Badminton Pan America

Uriel Canjura, young star from El Salvador, is already a reality for his country. After participating in the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018, Uriel continued to rise in his sports career and has achieved different good results, such as the medals he won at the Cali 2021 Pan Am Youth Games.

“I have a dream and a goal at the same time, to reach the Olympic Games. It’s not easy but I’m looking to qualify for Paris 2024, that’s my goal and it’s also my dream.”

Like most athletes, Uriel is in search of the Olympic dream, that achievement that allows Salvadorans to have one more reason to be proud of their athlete. To do this, Uriel does not rest and adds arduous training, including the Center of Excellence in Denmark and the Pan Am Badminton Training Camp.

“My preparation so far has been very intense. I have been training in Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Denmark, trying to work hard every day.”

And surely every effort brings the reward of it. In addition to the medals in the first edition of the Pan Am Youth Games, Uriel won a Pan Am medal playing at home, in the last XXV YONEX Pan Am Individual Championship held in San Salvador last April.

“My best result has been the one I got at this year’s Pan American Championship in El Salvador. That has been the biggest result of my sporting career so far, and playing against Kevin (Cordon) was also something I wanted, playing against one of my idols. ”

At the age of 22, Uriel won the bronze medal at the XXV YONEX Pan Am Individual Championships 2022, where he not only showed his best game at home, to his public, family and friends, but also fulfilled another dream, in the semifinals he faced Olympian Kevin Cordon, giving away a great 3-games-match.

“That championship was special, when I saw the draw I saw that at some point I could face Kevin so that was a motivation for each match. Playing at home gave me peace of mind but each round was a final.”

Every step Uriel has taken in his career, every achievement and every adversity leads him to be grateful to everyone for who he is so far. This motivates him to give his best in every competition but also to want to support others so that, just like him, they can achieve their dreams.

“In the future I would like to be a coach, I think it would help a lot in the development of the country and that more people have the same opportunities that I had.”