Pyne satisfied

Guadalajara, Mexico:

Badminton men's singles bronze medallist Charles Pyne, while disappointed with his semi-final exit, is satisfied with his overall performance here.

Pyne bowed out of the XVI Pan American Games on Tuesday night, losing a long and gruelling three-setter, 18-21, 21-18, 18-21, to 22-year-old Cuban Oselni Guerrero.

"I think I played well here ... in the end it was disappointing because I had my chances (to reach the final). Overall, it is a good result (bronze medal) for me. It is my best-ever result in my singles career. It would have been perfect to reach the final but the result is good in terms of Olympic qualification," said the 30-year-old Toronto-based Pyne, who earned valuable points on his way to the last four.

Big victories

His victories include a big round-of-16 win over the number two seed and highly rated Rodrigo Pacheco of Peru. Pyne defeated the Peruvian 20-22, 21-17, 21-10.

His other wins were a 21-9, 21-9 triumph over Venezuela's Kisbel Mtutu in the round of 32, and another three-set win, 21-14, 19-21, 21-9, over Brazil's Alex Tjong in the quarter-finals.

Canada's 20-year-old Michelle Li, who is coached in Toronto by Pyne, has already won the women's doubles gold medal here and will go for her second gold today in the women's singles final.

Jamaica's other top performers in badminton were the mixed doubles pair of Gareth Henry and Mikaylia Haldane, who reached the quarter-finals of the event. Their victories include a 21-14, 21-19 win over Mexican number four seeds Lino Munoz and Cynthia Gonzalez. They were stopped in the quarter-finals, 21-9, 21-11, by Americans Howard Bach and Paula Obanana. The Americans went on to take bronze medal.