JAMAICA’S internationally ranked badminton players Charles Pyne and Gareth Henry, preparing for the 16th Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico in October, will compete in the Yonex Canada Open today.

Pyne, ranked 202 in the world, will take on American Nicholas Jinadasa, ranked number 151 in the world, in the first round.

With three wins and one loss against Jinadasa in head-to-head clashes, Pyne will face the Canada Open top seed, Indonesian Taufik Hidayat, who is ranked number four in the world, if he advances to the second round.

Henry, meanwhile, has a tougher competitor as he will go up against seventh-seed Yan Kit Chan of Hong Kong.

Placed in the bottom half of the draw, Henry has a world ranking of 279, while Chan currently stands as the world number 40.

Both Jamaicans will team up in the doubles, where they have a world ranking of 269, to play newcomers Andy Ko and Clinton Wong of Canada.

The Canada Open follows last week’s Yonex OCBC US Open Grand Prix Gold where Pyne and Henry failed to get past the first round in both singles and doubles.

India’s RMV Gurusai Datt, ranked number 76 in the world, took 28 minutes to knock out Pyne 21-7, 21-17. The Canada-based Jamaican won 24 of the 66 points played, which included eight smash winners and eight net winners.

Brazilian Daniel Paiola wrapped up his match against Malaysia-based Henry in 22 minutes. Like Pyne, Henry won 24 of the 66 points contested. However, Henry had 17 smash winners, eight net winners, and 12 clear winners.

At the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Jamaicans John Martin and Emelio Mendez were ousted in the first round in both singles and doubles.