Seventh Title for Michelle Li
Text by BWF
Michelle Li annexed her seventh title and Presley Smith won a double at the XXIX YONEX Pan Am Individual Championships 2026 on a day when all the top seeds prevailed.
The Canadian great was stretched in the second game but managed to hold off her younger compatriot Wen Yu Zhang 21-16 22-20, after saving game point.
“Always feels great to be in a final,” said Li. “I don’t think you can ever be in too many finals. So I’m really happy that I was able to play today.
“It means a lot to win. I think I’ve played this many times, but every time it’s different: different circumstances, different time, different stage of my life. So being able to win this tournament, having lost last year, I think it means a lot.”
Li praised her opponent’s combativeness.
“She played quite well in the end of the second game and she wasn’t making any mistakes, she was hitting everything on the line. So I had to kind of put it in my head ‘I just gotta fight for every shot’ and just work.”
In men’s singles, Victor Lai expectedly defended his title, preventing El Salvador’s Uriel Francisco Canjura Artiga from making history for his country. Lai needed just 37 minutes to win his second title, 21-11 21-9.
“Super happy,” said Lai. “A little bit relieved too. But also just happy that I can prove myself once again at this big tournament and this nice hall and I really love coming back to Peru.
“Uriel’s fighting spirit is really strong. He doesn’t give up. So that made me keep focused for the whole match. Even if I’m winning by many points, he can always come back.”
Double for Presley Smith
USA won all three doubles titles. Presley Smith/Jennie Gai were mostly in control against Davi Silva/Sania Lima, with the Brazilians aiming to become the first from their country to win a paired event. They did hold a lead briefly in the second game at 15-11 but the USA pair then shot past them and clinched the title with 10 straight points.
The all-USA women’s doubles final saw Lauren Lam/Allison Quynh Lee edge Francesca Corbett/Jennie Gai 21-18 21-18, while the men’s doubles final was a more one-sided contest with Chen Zhi Yi/Presley Smith stopping Kevin Lee/Ty Alexander Lindeman 21-13 21-8.
“(I feel) very good,” said double titlist Smith. “Very tired, but, like, two years ago I was double champion as well, and this year it just feels good to be back getting the double.”
What They Said
“Definitely nerve-racking. There’s a lot of pressure coming to the finals, one from obviously, well, where we stand in our ranking, and two, pressure within ourselves. So, definitely it was pressuring, but luckily we were able to deal with it and pull through, just focus one point at a time and, then yeah, that’s where it led us.” – Lauren Lam
“It means literally everything because this is what we trained for, this is what we prepared for, and what our family and our coaches, teammates all help us for. So we’re very grateful to have the support around us, and especially each other.” – Allison Lee
“I was a little bit shaky just because… it was the final, but I’m proud of ourselves how we overcame it and how we still kept going strong despite the nerves. And we were able to pull back a comeback in the second set, and I’m really happy that we were able to achieve this.” – Jennie Gai