The 2018 Pan America Cup has advanced to the final day.  The event began on Friday in Asuncion, Paraguay and will conclude with the finals on Sunday.

In the Men’s singles event, Team USA participants were Yijun Feng and Kanak Jha.  Feng had a tough draw on Friday in the group round where he faced Marcos Madrid (Mexico) and Brian Afanador (Puerto Rico), both of whom were seeded higher than Feng.  Feng began the day with a win over Madrid (4-3).  However, Feng then lost to Afanador (1-4).  Afanador then lost to Madrid (2-4) to create a three-way tie.  The tie was broken by winning percentage with Afanador winning with a 6-5 record (in games overall), Madrid finishing second with a 7-6 record, and Feng in third with a 5-7 record.  Afanador advanced from the group into the Main Draw.

Kanak Jha was seeded into the Main Draw.  His first match was Afanador on Saturday morning.  Kanak won the match 4-2 (9, -12, -7, 6, 8, 10) to advance to the semifinals.  He then faced Brazil’s Gustavo Tsuboi (World No. 54) Saturday evening.  Tsuboi was too much for the young American, winning 4-0 (4, 8, 8, 4).  Tsuboi will play Hugo Calderano in the finals on Sunday.  Kanak Jha will face Paraguay’s Marcelo Aguirre for third place.

Canada was represented by Edward Ly and Marko Medjugorac.  Both finished third in the first stage round robins and did not advance.  The matches were competitive, but this will have to be chalked up as another valuable learning experience as they continue to develop.

Team USA’s Women were represented by Xinyue Wang and Wu Yue.  Wang was third seed in her group, but won both matches to advance.  She defeated Puerto Rico’s Melanie Diaz 4-3 and defeated Canada’s Alicia Cote 4-0.  Wang then advanced to play top seeded Mo Zhang (Canada) where her run ended.  Zhang over Wang 4-1.

Wu Yue was seeded into the Main Draw.  She defeated Brazil’s Caroline Kumahara (4-1) to reach the semifinals.  She then defeated Mexico’s Yadira Silva (4-2) to reach the finals.  Wu will face Mo Zhang on Sunday evening for the Pan Am title.

Visit butterflyonline.com for updates throughout the finals on Sunday.