[Photo: Duany (4th from right) earned a bronze medal in doubles.]

Two former members of the University of Rochester squash program competed at the 2015 Toronto Pan-American Games this week.
 
Andres Duany ('13) of Peru, and Joe Chapman ('12) of the British Virgin Islands were two of representatives of their country at the games held every four years in the summer prior to the Summer Olympics.
 
The highlight of this years competition among Rochester squash alums came in the doubles event where Duany paired with Peruvian teammate Diego Elias to capture a bronze medal.  After receiving a first round bye, Duany and Elias defeated Max Camiruaga and Sebastian Gallegos of Chile 11-4, 11-7 to reach the semifinals, guaranteeing a medal as there was no 3-4 playoff for bronze.
 
In the semis, Peru's pair lost 11-5, 11-2 to Andres Herrera and Juan Vargas of Columbia who eventually went on to win the gold medal.
 
Chapman was one of just two athletes competing at the Pan-Am Games from the British Virgin Islands, joining swimmer Elinah Phillip.  The 2012 UR grad competed in the singles competition but was defeated in the first round to Alonso Escudero of Peru 11-7, 11-7, 11-2.
 
Duany participated in his second event of the games, coming as a member of Peru's team in the three-man team competition.  In pool play Peru fell to Mexico and Argentina 2-1 before defeating Guyana 3-0 to close out competition in the first round.  Duany lost in both of Peru's losses, 11-9, 11-2, 6-11, 11-7 to Mexico and 11-7, 111-8, 11-4 to Argentina before winning 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-4) over his Guyana opponent.
 
Peru missed out on reaching the top-6 bracket for a chance to play in medal rounds but captured 7th place after winning two additional matches 3-0 in the 7-10 place pool.  Duany then defeated Ecuador's Orlando Rodriguez (11-5, 11-6, 11-4) and Chile's Sebastian Gallegos (12-10, 11-7, 11-5) to close out his 2015 Pan-Am experience.
 
This years Pan-American games will feature nearly 7,000 athletes across 36 different sports, including squash, which will look for inclusion in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games as one of eight finalist sports to potentially be added.

Pan-American Games Squash Results