By Samuel Peters
Antigua and Barbuda’s Yakita Aska boxed his way to glory in his preliminary match against Emmanuel Pompey of Guyana, in the 92kg division at the 2023 Pan American Games ongoing in Santiago, Chile.
The boxer won four of the five rounds with scores of 29-28, 30-27, 28-29, 30-27 and 30-27. He will now play Bryan Colwell of Canada on Monday.
Moreover, his compatriot Alston Ryan, who is based in the United Kingdom, suffered a heavy defeat to Lazaro Alvarez Estrada of El Salvador in the 63.5kg class. Ryan, who was a bronze medalist at the last Pan American Games held in 2019, lost in his first match with scores 28-29, 27-30, 28-29, 27-30 and 27-30.
In swimming, Noah Mascoll-Gomes placed fifth in the 200m freestyle race of Heat 2. Brazil’s Breno Martin won the heat in 1:47.59 and Murilo Setin Sartori finished in 1:47.63. Zane Grothe of the USA had a time of 1:48.17 while Mascoll-Gomes’ time was 1:55.42.
In the men’s 400m freestyle of Heat 2, Mascoll-Gomes came eighth with a time of 4:11.50 as the race was won by Venezuela’s Alfonso Mestre. However, in the 100m butterfly which was won by Finlay Knox, Mascoll-Gomes did not start the race.