Paola Longoria, the Mexican racquetball player, arrived in Santiago 2023 with an simply astonishing record: nine Pan American gold medals in various disciplines of this sport, including three in Lima 2019 (singles, doubles, and team).

She came to Chile with the goal of expanding her astounding list of achievements, and this Sunday, she got off to a great start at the Centro Deportivo Las Raquetas in the round of sixteen: in the singles competition, she defeated the Cuban player Merynanyelly Delgado with scores of 11-2, 11-4, 11-10.

In the afternoon, she will make her debut in mixed doubles alongside Eduardo Portillo, facing the Chilean pair of Carla Muñoz and Jaime Mansilla.

"I'm happy to be at a new Pan American event; these are my fourth Games, and I come with much more experience. I was eager to start, and now it's time for mixed doubles, and we're taking it step by step... The goal is to defend what I achieved in Lima," Longoria stated.

In other results from this morning, Natalia Méndez (Argentina) defeated Frederique Lambert (Canada) with scores of 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7; Angelica Barrios (Bolivia) defeated Key Michelle (United States) with scores of 11-7, 11-3, 11-6; and Montserrat Mejía (Mexico) overcame Verónica Sotomayor (Ecuador) with scores of 11-7, 8-11, 12-10, 11-6.


Written by Camila Silva; translation by Pía Barriga /Photosport
Photo by Felipe Quintana / Photosport