Craig
Seeker of the USOC Reports
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - The United States Squash team came
into the XV Pan American Games with sky-high expectations.
Their performance on Saturday did nothing
to diminish that.
The U.S. got off to a blazing start as
Michelle Quibell, Christopher Gordon and Julian Illingworth
earned wins in their opening-round matches at the Miecimo
da Silva Sport Complex.
The singles competition continues through
Monday. The team competition will run from July 17-19
in Rio.
Quibell, from Washington, D.C., rolled
to a 9-0, 9-3, 9-1 victory over Luz Etchechoury of Argentina
while Gordon, from New York City, dismantled Peru’s
Mauricio Dasso 9-5, 9-0, 9-1.
Quibell advances to face teammate Natalie
Grainger (Washington, D.C.) in the quarterfinal round
at 9 a.m. Sunday.
Gordon then fell to Mexico's Jorge Baltabar
9-7, 10-8, 5-9, 9-5 in the Round of 16 on Saturday night.
Illingworth (Portland, Ore.) downed Argentina's
Robertino Pezzota 9-2, 6-9, 9-3, 9-4 in the Round of 16.
Illingworth now advances to face No. 1 seed Shahier Razik
of Canada in Saturday's quarterfinals at 11 a.m.
