High-Performance

João Pessoa, BRA (July 26, 2026) – The Canadian Junior National Team concludes their 13-day competition at the XXXIV YONEX Pan Am Junior Championships 2026 in João Pessoa. Running from July 19 to 26, this prestigious event featured young athletes from across the Americas, highlighting the vibrant talent pool within the region.

The Pan Am Junior Championships 2026 had the Canadian contingent face off against competitors from 14 countries in the Individual Event and 9 teams in the Team Event, including nations such as Brazil, Peru, USA, and others from across the Americas.

The Team Event, led by coaches Mike Butler and Mario Santoso, featured 12 U19 athletes competing in a relay-style team event, where they dominated the group stage and semifinal but fell just short in the final to the USA in a 3-tie thriller, leaving Canada to claim the silver medal. "Pan Am Junior Championships was a very rewarding and busy event," says head coach Mike Butler. "We had 54 players and many supporting family members in attendance in João Pessoa, Brazil. This was a great opportunity for our players to get an international experience on the Pan Am stage and for our coaches to work with our best juniors in the country. All countries did struggle with the draft at the venue and it was the ones that dealt with this in a positive way had the most success. Very proud of each and every team member. They represented Canada with great pride. I look forward to working with these athletes in the near future. Next up is the World Junior Championships in Cairo, Egypt in October".

 

Alongside Mike Butler and Mario Santoso, 4 additional coaches went for the individual portion of the event to support the Canadian athletes:

Valerie Loker (AB) - Assistant Coach
Cathy Chau (ON) - Assistant coach
Adrian Fan (BC)  - Assistant coach
Patrick Thompson (NS) - Assistant coach

 

Additionally, 54 athletes from across Canada competed in the individual event in the U13, U15, U17, and U19 age categories, coming home with 24 medals total – 5 gold, 6 silver, and 13 bronze;

U13:

	Silver	Bronze
Girls Doubles	Alina Du (QC) & Sophie Sheng (ON)	Olivia Chen (BC) & Yantong Lin (BC)

 

U15:

	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Boys Singles	Quentin Wu (ON)	–	Leo Kim (ON)
Girls Singles	–	–	Angela Chen (QC)
Boys Doubles	–	–	Liyou Cheng (ON) & Alvenzo Dave Sutedja Calvin Ping (ON) & Quentin Wu (ON)
Girls Doubles	–	Yibing Serena Chen (ON) & Angelina Liu)	–

 

U17:

	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Boys Singles	–	–	Michael Zubin Sun (ON)
Girls Singles	Emily Luo (ON)	–	Susanna Wang (ON)
Boys Doubles	–	Michael Zubin Sun (ON) & Aris Zhu (AB)	Ruobei Robert Xu (BC) & Kevin Zhou (BC)
Girls Doubles	Emily Luo (ON) & Rosey Yin (ON)	Susanna Wang (ON) & Zhiqing Audrey Wang (NS)	–
Mixed Doubles	Kevin Zhou (BC) & Rosey Yin (ON)	–	–

 

U19:

	Gold		Silver	Bronze
Boys Singles	–		–	Kevin Yang (ON)
Girls Singles	–		–	Brindha Bharathi Raja (ON)
Boys Doubles	–		Ryan Yuxuan Huang (ON) & Pitousovanreath Roth (ON)	Allan Crawford (BC) & Nathan Yan Shun Lee (BC)
Girls Doubles	–		–	Paula Guo (ON) & Ying Jian (ON)
Mixed Doubles	Ryan Yuxuan Huang (ON) & Jasmine Yuexin Zhang (QC)		Pitousovanreath Roth (ON) & Emma Goyette (QC)	Kyle Yatfung Le (ON) & Ying Jian (ON)

 

A huge congratulations to all our Canadian athletes who competed in this tournament! Next, we look forward to cheering on our U19 players at the 2026 BWF World Junior Championships, which take place in Cairo, Egypt, running from October 5 to October 17, 2026.

 

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For more information or media inquiries please contact: 

Bryan R. Merrett 

Executive Director 

613-518-1501, X2083 

bmerrett@badminton.ca 

 

About Badminton Canada 

With shuttles reaching speeds as high as 565 kph, badminton attracts more than 220 million people worldwide to play the sport weekly, making badminton the second most participated-in sport in the world. Badminton Canada works to grow the game across the country through events, coaching and officials’ development, and developing programs such as Shuttletime. In Canada, over 2 million people picked up a badminton racquet and played our sport. Some play at the cottage, some in the backyard, at school, the local community centre or as part of an organized Badminton Canada competition. Badminton is easily accessible – for any Canadian – at any age – for life!