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¡The 'Puma' is unbeatable! This Tuesday, October 31, Diego Elías defeated Chilean Matías Lacroix (3-0) in the round of 16 and, a few hours later, Canadian David Baillargeon (3-1) in the quarterfinals. This way, he qualified for the semifinals of male squash in the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. In his next challenge, the national athlete will face Mexican Leonel Cárdenas with the goal of qualifying for the final and fight for the Pan American gold. It is worth mentioning that he seeks to repeat the gold medal he achieved in Lima 2019.
The 26-year-old squash player is one of the top favorites and rightly so: he is the Pan American champion and his present is good within the PSA circuit (he is ranked second in the world). And he showed it in the Chilean capital: the member of the Athlete Support Program (PAD) of the IPD had no problems in defeating his opponents.
In the last match against the Canadian, the 'Puma' did not have a good start and lost the first set 6-11, but he showed that he knows how to recover from adversity and won the next three, with scores of 11-3, 11-4, and 11-5. Now, the Peruvian athlete will face Leonel Cárdenas. It will be a tough match, but he is full of confidence.
It is important to mention that the main rival of Diego Elías in Santiago 2023 is the Colombian Miguel Rodríguez, number 13 in the world and whom he defeated in the final of Lima, four years ago. The 'cafetero' athlete also advanced to the semifinals after defeating José Enríquez, from Independent Athletes, and Argentine Leandro Romiglio.
"According to the ranking, we should both reach the final, but, I insist, the matches have to be played. I don't feel like a winner in advance. Miguel is a great player and I hope we meet again," pointed out the 'Puma' this Tuesday, after the victory against Chilean Matías Lacroix.
Prize for Peruvian medalists
It is necessary to mention that the Peruvian Institute of Sports (IPD) will reward the best athletes with a monetary prize, according to the type of medal. Athletes will receive 80,000 soles for each gold medal, 60,000 soles for silver, and 30,000 soles for bronze. Note that the prize will accumulate if they win more than one medal. So far, Peru has accumulated seven gold, two silver, and thirteen bronze medals (see medal note).
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