AFTER debutant Declan James claimed a bronze medal for Jamaica in men’s individual play, the Caribbean island was eliminated at the quarter-final stage of the team competition at the PanAm Squash Qualifiers in Asuncion, Paraguay.

The Jamaicans, who received a bye in the first round, blanked host country Paraguay two-nil in the second round on the back of outstanding performances by James and former All Jamaica champion Lewis Walters.

James soundly defeated Francesco Marcantonio in straight sets with scores of 13-11, 11-2, 11-6 in the match that lasted 36 minutes. Marcantonio had put up a fight in the first game, which went on for nearly 16 minutes.

The Walters vs Andres Acosta was a nail-biting, 45-minute, four setter which the Jamaican won 3-1. Walters won the first two games 11-8, 11-8 but Acosta rallied to take the third by 11-8, only for Walters to dig deep and come back with an 11-5 strike to take the match.

Jamaica’s good run in the qualifiers ended at the quarter-finals when they went down 1-2 to Mexico. James won his match 3-1 while Walters and Chris Binnie lost theirs in straight sets.

James, who was seeded number three in the tournament, battled number two seed Leonel Cardenas for 56 minutes to post scores of 11-9, 4-11, 11-6, 11-2. The match was competitive throughout, as both players matched skills, but James executed better to run out the victor.

It was redemption for James who lost to Cardenas in the semi-finals of the individual segment of the qualifiers. Cardenas is ranked number 12 in the world while James is ranked at number 23.

Cesar Salazar defeated Walters 11-7, 11-4, 11-6. Walters was competitive but was overpowered in the three games.

Chris Binne went down 2-11, 2-11, 4-11 to Alfredo Avila.

A total of 20 counties and over 140 competitors featured at the August 15-22 PanAm Squash Qualifiers.

Team Jamaica will now look to other opportunities to continue its quest to qualify for the 2028 Olympics Games in Los Angeles, United States, where squash will be introduced for the first time.