Santiago 2023: Diego Elías qualified for the squash final and is close to being a two-time champion.

Elías, current Pan American gold medalist, had a good start to the day on Tuesday, adding two victories to position himself in the semifinals of the individual branch of squash. The 'Puma' started his morning session with a solid victory against the Chilean Matías Lacroix with a resounding 3-0 (11-1, 11-2, 11-0). With this triumph, he secured his spot in the quarterfinals in the afternoon, where he would meet the Canadian David Baillargeon.

And unlike the first match, Elías had to work harder during the game to come through with a 3-1 (6-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-5) victory in 36'. The Canadian surprised him in the first set, but the Peruvian didn't let himself down in the following games and imposed his experience of being the number two in the world in the professional squash circuit.

Now, after defeating the Mexican Cárdenas in the semifinals, Diego Elías is just one victory away from becoming a Pan American champion for the second time and becoming the fourth person in our history to hold this title (after Cristhian Pacheco, Piccolo Clemente, and Lucca Mesinas). This Wednesday, he will seek to defeat the Colombian Rodríguez in the final for the gold medal.

Peruvian participation in other sports

In other sports, the Peruvian delegation also had varied results, some final and others partial. José Luis Mandros finished fifth in the men's long jump with a record of 7.70 meters. Meanwhile, in equestrian sports, Alonso Valdez and his horse Acuero finished eleventh in the first round of equestrian jumping.

On the other hand, in basque pelota, Jesús Quinto lost to Cuban Cristian Abreú 2-0 in the Group B of frontball. In the same sport, in frontenis, the duo of Juan Bezada and David Yupanqui lost 2-1 to the Argentines Lorenzo Cardoso and Emiliano García in Group A of their modality. Meanwhile, the women's softball team lost 10-0 to Canada.

In sailing, Stefano Peschiera leads in the Bote-Ilca 7 category after six races; the same goes for María Belén Bazo, who leads in Windsurfing - iQFoil Women after three more races on Tuesday. In sunfish, Jean Paul de Trazegnies is third in the regional boat. Meanwhile, Caterina Romero leads the women's sunfish category.

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