Tears and records at the Pan American Games

Tears and records at the Pan American Games

Great scenes after the final: Winner Adriana Diaz (left) comforts Bruna Takahashi (©YouTube/Canal do Edesio)

November 2, 2023 – Hugo Calderano and Adriana Diaz defended their individual titles at the Pan American Games and once again managed to climb to the top of the podium at the quadrennial multi-sport event. Calderano is the first player to win three singles titles in this tournament. Diaz was delighted with her second gold medal at the Pan American Games and caused emotional scenes with silver medalist Bruna Takahashi after the final.

The two individual finals at the Pan American Games – which are similar to the European Games in Europe – could not have been more different. While Hugo Calderano defeated recent challenger Andy Pereira of Cuba with a smooth 4-0 win in just 21 minutes, Adriana Diaz and Bruna Takahashi needed all seven sets to find the winner. After the Brazilian won the first set, Diaz took a 2-1 lead, but Takahashi beat him again a short time later. In the seventh group, the defending champion from Puerto Rico closed the bag with a score of 11:7 and celebrated the gold medal. Diaz showed her true greatness in the following minutes when she embraced her tearful opponent and calmed her down for a long time. Panamsports.org quoted the Brazilian player as saying: “Adriana is a very nice person, and we have been playing against each other in competitions since we were kids.” “I like her very much and she said some positive things to me because we know it is not easy to lose a match like this.”

Not only did Adriana Diaz defend her title, she also set a national record by winning her seventh Panama Games medal, according to Panamsports.org. “I can’t describe the happiness I feel. It feels amazing,” the Puerto Rican was quoted as saying. “I never thought I could achieve something like this. When I found out, I was very surprised because I never imagined it. “But I always do it with pride – and my greatest accomplishment is representing Puerto Rico wherever I go.” Bronze went to Lily Zhang from the United States and Mo Chang from Canada.

Calderano sets a record

Hugo Calderano went through the tournament without any major difficulties and put an exclamation mark on his form in the clear final against Andy Pereira Diez. The Brazilian is the first player to win the individual title at the Pan American Games three times. “A lot of people talked about me being the first triple champion at the Pan American Games, and this is very important for me, although I think I don’t need to compare myself with other players,” Calderano told Panamsports.org. Bronze medals went to Canada’s Eugene Wang and Mexico’s Marcos Madrid.

The mixed competition also attracted special attention, with two tickets for the Paris Olympics on offer. These awards went to Daniela Fonseca/Jorge Campos and Bruna Takahashi/Vitor Ishii, with the Cubans taking the title. In doubles, Pereira won the gold medal with Jorge Campos ahead of Calderano/Ishii; In the women’s event, Americans Amy Wang/Rachel Song won the gold medal ahead of Bruna and Julia Takahashi. At the end of the matches, the group competition titles will be distributed over the next few days.

Medal winners at a glance

Men’s singles
1. Hugo Calderano Bra
2. Andy Pereira Diez Cub
3. Eugene Wang Kan, Marcos Madrid Mexico

Women’s singles
1. Adriana Diaz Pure
2. Bruna Takahashi Bra
3. Lily Zhang USA, Mo Chang Kan

My husband’s men
1. Jorge Campos / Andy Pereira Diez Cub
2. Hugo Calderano / Vitor Ischi Bra
3. Gustavo Gomez/Nicolas Burgos Che, Horacio Cifuentes/Gaston Alto ARG

Ladies’ doubles
1. Amy Wang/Rachel Song USA
2. Julia Takahashi / Bruna Takahashi Bra
3. Adriana Diaz/Melanie Diaz Burr, Paulina Vega/Daniela Ortega Gomez Che

Mixed doubles
1. Daniela Fonseca / Jorge Campos Cub
2. Bruna Takahashi / Vitor Ishii Bra
3. Paulina Vega/Nicolas Burgos Chi, Mo Zhang/Eugene Wang Kan

All results can be found here.

(youth)