August 13, 2003
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Khan (R); photo from Squash Magazine archives
Latasha Khan scored a US first in her Pan Am Games Women's Final vs. Melanie Jans. Khan beat Canadian Jans in four games, to take home the first-ever gold medal for the United States in Pan Am Game squash!
In the final, Khan d Jans 2, 5, (3), 6.
Up until this point, Khan had a rocky road of matches against Jans.
"I have been playing [Jans] since we were 16. I lost our first two matches and it just snowballed from there," says Khan of her history with her opponent. "Yesterday I was two-love up and I thought, don't blow it, and of course lost the third game. In the fourth I was 4-0 down, playing pretty bad, so I just said forget about winning or losing, just play better quality of points--and I ended up winning 9-6."
How does she feel to have won the first squash gold for the US? "I think it is great not just for me, but the entire squash community. Canada has always won and it shows that we are catching up to them," Khan says.
In the Men's Final, in fact, were two Canadians. Shahier Razik defeated Graham Ryding (2), 0, 10-9, (1), 6.
To reach the Final, Khan defeated Marnie Baizley in 4 in the semis.
Next up is the team competition. Stay tuned!
Pan Am US Results:
Women's Final:
Latasha Khan d Melanie Jans 2, 5, (3), 6
Women's Semis:
Khan d Marnie Baizley 5, 5, (6), 4
Women's Quarters:
Khan d Karen Anderson (Jamaica) 2, 4, 5
Women's 1st Round:
Khan (bye)
Karen Redfern (Brazil) d Louisa Hall (US) (4), 6, (8-10), 3, 6
Men's Semis:
Graham Ryding (Canada) d Preston Quick (US) w/o (ankle injury to Quick)
Men's Quarters:
Ryding d Damian Walker (US) 3, 0, 0
Quick d Jorge Gutierrez (Argentina) 4, 3, (3), (4), 7
Men's 2nd Round:
Walker d Robertino Pezzota (Argentina) 6, 6, (6), 2
Quick d Sebastian Chacon (Ecuador) 0, 1, 0
2003 Men's Pan Am Team:
Damian Walker
Preston Quick
Tim Wyant
2003 Women's Pan Am Team:
Latasha Khan
Louisa Hall
Meredeth Quick
Pan American Games Team info -- click here
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