JAMAICA Squash (JS) is celebrating after achieving its objective of qualifying for the 2027 Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru, following the Pan Am Qualifier in Asuncion, Paraguay. Debutant Declan James earned a bronze medal in the individual competition, while the team placed eighth in the team competition. That performance was enough to secure automatic qualification for the Pan Am Games.

James said, “It’s an absolute honour to represent Jamaica for the first time. It feels like it’s been a long time coming over the last couple of years, getting everything prepared for that moment. A great feeling, a really warm welcome from the team, Karen and Joey [Joey Levy, JS vice-president] and everyone. It kind of felt like not playing for a new team — which is, I suppose, the best thing that I can say about the whole experience.”

The journey to his first medal for Jamaica started with a bye in the first round. He won his second-round match in straight sets against Daniel Carl of Guyana, 11-7, 11-1, 11-3, in just 25 minutes.

The third round posed a greater challenge but James overcame Shahjahan Khan of the United States 11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7 in almost an hour. He then defeated Josue Enriquez of Guatemala 12-10, 11-2, 11-6 in the quarter-final.

James was stopped in the semi-final by Leonel Cardenas of Mexico, 11-8, 11-4, 11-3. Cardenas is ranked number 12 in the world and number two in the qualifier, while James is ranked number 23 in the world and number three in the qualifier.

“The tournament was really well run and we achieved the goals that we set out — to get a medal in the individuals and to qualify as a team for the Pan Am Games next year. We certainly accomplished that; and that’s obviously massive for me personally and for the team, getting to the Pan Am Games in Peru next year, which is obviously the qualifying event for LA28. So, a really good trip overall and can’t wait for the next event representing Jamaica,” James said.

His teammates were Chris Binnie — the multiple-time All Jamaica champion and world-ranked player who came out of retirement to help Jamaica qualify for the Pan Am Games – the 2024 All Jamaica champion Lewis Walters, and national representative Tahjia Lumley.

The team received a bye in the first round of the team competition, then defeated hosts Paraguay before losing to Mexico in the quarter-final to finish eighth.

Jamaica Squash President Karen Anderson was pleased with the team’s performance.

“As we knew that Pan Am Games in 2027 was in Lima, Peru, and we had been approached by Declan James to represent Jamaica, we knew that it was a massive opportunity for us to try and make those qualifiers in Asuncion in Paraguay in 2026 and so we had to put a strong team around him so that we could try and qualify. Because the only way you can qualify for Pan Am Games is through the team event, and so we had to put a really strong team around him in order to participate and try and get a spot — one of 10 spots — to represent at the Lima-Peru Games in 2027.

“There were two goals: One, to medal individual through Declan, and then to qualify for the Pan Am Games in 2027 through our team, our men’s team entrance, and so we were able to do that. We had a lot of interesting challenges leading up to this but all’s well that ends well and so we’ve qualified and we’re very excited about being able to participate in Pan Am Games in 2027 in Lima, Peru.”