High-Performance

Guatemala City, Guatemala (February 15, 2026) – The Canadian Male and Female Teams emerged victorious at the Pan Am Badminton Male & Female Cup 2026 in Guatemala, defeating a very strong Men & Women USA teams to claim the Gold!  

The Pan Am Badminton Male & Female Cup features the best of Men and Women’s Teams in the Pan Am region, with countries facing off in a team event; winners earn the right to represent the continental federation at the BWF Thomas (Men) & Uber (Women) Cups in Denmark at the end of April 2026. 

Both Canadian teams would advance from their pools undefeated. The Female team beat Peru and Columbia in convincing fashion with 5-0 and 5-0 matches in the qualifying group stage. The Men would defeat El Slavador 5-0, and Team USA 3-2 in Group A.

In the semi-finals, both the Men’s and Women’s team would defeat Mexico 3-0 to book a spot in the finals versus the USA.  

The Female Team Finals featured Canadian veteran Michelle Li defeat USA star Beiwen Zhang (14-21, 21-19, 21-19) in a thrilling 51-minute match. Li would show true leadership and determination for her team, fighting back to claim the final two games for Canada to take a critical 1-0 lead. Shaking things up in Doubles, Crystal Lai/Eliana Zhang would give their best effort against Laurent Lam/Allison Quynh (19-21, 11-21). Third, Wendy Zhang followed up with a pivotal Single win, with a three-game victory over Ella Lin (17-21, 21-13, 21-19). In the fourth match, Jackie Dent/Josephine Wu lost to a very talented USA pair in Francesca Corbett/Jenni Gai (16-21, 10-21); entering 2-2 into the deciding match. To anchor the team, Pan Am Games medalist, Rachel Chan would take care of business, defeating Audrey Chang (21-13 and 21-10) to win the final 3-2 for Canada! 

This is the sixth time that Canada his placed first at the Pan Am Female Cup! 

In the Men’s Final, the Team Canada would battle USA again. Leading off, Victor Lai would defeat Mark Shelley Alcala (21-13 and 21-12) to take an early lead for Canada. Like the Women’s Team, the Men would shake up the partnerships, and featured Jonathin Lai/Ty Lindeman to take on top pair Zhi Chen/Presley Smith; both games were extended to extra points (24-26, 20-22). Ties 1-1, the next match showcased a three-game challenge for Brian Yang as he got past Garret Tan (17-21, 21-9, 21-16). The Male Team wrapped up the gold medal with a fantastic finale as Kevin Lee/Nyl Yakura beat Arden Lee/Joshua Yang (21-8, 21-19) to win the final 3-1 for Canada! 

This is the fifth straight time that Canada his placed first at the Pan Am Male Cup – marking a decade of Canada leading the Pan Am Region! 

"This has been an incredible week. It was truly a team effort for both Men’s and Female teams,” shared Mike Butler, National Team Head Coach, “We knew going in that it could end up with a Canada vs USA battle and it lived up to expectations and more. We are so proud of everyone! I take special pride in team events as it shows depth in our program.” 

Over the course of the history of the Pan Am Badminton Male & Female Cup Canada has won gold on the Male side six (6) and silver three (3) times. On the Female side, Canada has claimed gold six (6) and silver five (5) times. The tournament is held every two years and has been competed fourteen (14) times overall. 

 

Badminton Canada proudly congratulates our Canadian players in the competition for both teams: 

Female: Rachel Chan, Catherine Choi, Jackie Dent, Chloe Hoang, Crystal Lai, Michelle Li, Josephine Wu, Eliana Zhang and Wendy Zhang. 

Male: Kiren Deraj, Jonathan Lai, Victor Lai, Kevin Lee, Daniel Leung, Ty Lindeman, Timothy Lock, Joshua Nguyen, Nyl Yakura and Brian Yang. 

 

Head Coach: Mike Butler, ChPC

Assistant Coach: Kevin Cao 

Physiotherapist: Lynsie Fleming 

 

-30- 

 

For media inquiries, please contact:  

Bryan R. Merrett  
Executive Director  
Telephone (613) 518-1501, X 2083  
bmerrett@badminton.ca 

 

About Badminton Canada 

With shuttles reaching speeds as high as 565 kph, badminton attracts more than 220 million people worldwide to play the sport weekly, making badminton the second most participated-in sport in the world. Badminton Canada works to grow the game across the country through events, coaching and officials’ development, and developing programs such as Shuttletime. In Canada, over 2 million people picked up a badminton racquet and played our sport. Some play at the cottage, some in the backyard, at school, the local community centre or as part of an organized Badminton Canada competition. Badminton is easily accessible – for any Canadian – at any age – for life!