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USA vs Canada in Women's Final
Singles Gold Medal Round
By Rob Dinerman © 2003; all rights of reproduction reserved.
August 14, 2003 

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The much-anticipated battle for women's squash supremacy in the 2003 Pan American Games will take place later today when an American squad led by individuals gold-medalist and U. S. national champion Latasha Khan takes on the defending Pan American Games team champion Canada, who will be attempting to duplicate their triumph over the U. S. in the gold-medal clash for the Pan Am Federation Cup a year ago in Ecuador.

Both teams earned 3-0 semi-final wins, the Canadians over Brazil and the U. S. over Mexico. Melanie Jans, the '99 Pan Am Games individual winner who was dethroned by Khan in a tough four-game final this past Tuesday, won a first-set tiebreaker from Brazilian star Karen Redfern and wound up winning in straight games; so did Jans's teammates Marnie Baizley and Carolyn Russell at the Nos. 2 and 3 positions over Flavia Roberts and Patricia Pamplona respectively.

There was a little controversy at the outset of the match between the U. S. women and Mexico, both due to the permission granted Mexican No. 1 Samantha Teran to sit out Wednesday's match against Canada while Khan had weathered a tiring five-gamer against Redfern (who held a pair of match-balls) before winning in a tiebreaker, and because of an abortive court change by the tournament committee. The match was originally scheduled for one of the regular courts, but the officials decided to switch it to the glass exhibition court. The Mexicans, however, keenly aware that Teran had lost in five agonizing games to Jans on the glass court in the individuals semis before Khan had beaten Jans there the following night, objected, and the officials reluctantly went back to the originally scheduled court.

When play eventually began, Khan immediately moved out to a 4-0 lead, moving and executing much better than she had one day earlier against Redfern.

After going up two games to love and moving to a secure-seeming 8-2 lead in the
third, she inexplicably let up and the gritty Teran, who had rallied from two-love down against Jans before almost winning in five, fought back to win that game 10-8. The fourth was close for awhile, but Khan maintained two-point advantages of 2-0, 4-2 and 5-3 before pulling away and closing the match out 9-3.

This hasn't been an easy few days for Khan, who had never defeated Jans in more than a dozen attempts before finally doing so in the gold-medal match, and who has always had her way with Redfern and Teran but encountered plenty of resistance from each of them while dealing with the pressure of the expectations conferred by her gold-medal run in the individuals. But she has risen superior to everything that has been thrown at her and come through like the four-time U. S. national champion she is.

Hall, seeded 10th among the women players, then took on Diana Huerta, seeded sixth, and methodically took her apart in three games. Hall has been playing at or near the top of her game in recent months, including a sparkling performance in June in the team trials and finished second to Khan, whom she had defeated this past winter in the final of the Harvard Club of New York team selection event. Huerta is a solid, hard-hitting player, but she was out-classed by Hall's smart all-court game, which has been honed in recent weeks by several sessions in New York by her long-time coach Ben Desombre, who recently assumed the position of head pro at Sports Club/LA on Manhattan's upper east side.

These wins by Khan and Hall reduced the No. 3 match between Meredeth Quick and Teresa Osorio into a dead rubber, which was therefore shortened to best-of-three which went to Quick in two games. The American men, still enormously disappointed by the tough loss to Brazil that eliminated them from medal contention, won their final pool rounds against El Salvador and Paraguay.

The latter had lost its No. 1 to a back injury, forcing all his teammates to move up a
notch, and it wasn't much of a match, as Damian Walker, Preston Quick and Tim
Wyant all won easily to leave the U. S. in third place in their five-team pool. Canada, which won the pool, will now face Argentina, the second-place
finisher in the other bracket, while Mexico takes on Brazil.

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