Santo Domingo 2026: A Memorable Return for Pan American Squash
Squash made a memorable return to the Central American and Caribbean Games at Santo Domingo 2026, bringing together 11 nations, historic performances and a remarkably diverse medal table that showcased the growing strength of the sport across the region.
After an eight-year absence from the Games, the competition delivered a week to remember at Ágora Mall in Santo Domingo, where glass courts brought squash directly to the public and created a spectacular setting for individual, doubles and team competition.
For PanamSquash, Santo Domingo 2026 represented much more than medals. It marked the return of our sport to one of the most important multisport stages in Central America and the Caribbean.
Colombia finishes at the top
Colombia finished as the leading squash nation at Santo Domingo 2026, collecting an impressive nine medals: three gold, three silver and three bronze.
Mexico followed with five medals, including two golds, while Barbados produced one of the most remarkable performances of the Games with two gold medals, one silver and one bronze.
The final squash medal standings were:
Perhaps one of the most encouraging statistics was the diversity of the podium: seven of the 11 participating nations won at least one medal.
That means more than 60 percent of the countries competing in squash reached the podium, demonstrating the depth of talent developing throughout the Caribbean, Central America and the wider Pan American region.
Barbados makes history
Barbados deserves a special mention after producing one of its finest performances in the history of the Games.
Margot Prow captured the women’s individual gold medal, becoming the first Barbadian woman to win the title, before the country added another historic gold in the women’s team competition.
That team championship came in dramatic fashion.
After Amanda Haywood was forced to default her match due to injury, Barbados found itself 1-0 down against Colombia. Prow then faced Lucía Bautista and fell two games behind before producing an extraordinary comeback to win 3-2.
Meagan Best completed the turnaround with a 3-0 victory over Laura Tovar, securing a 2-1 series victory and the gold medal for Barbados.
PanamSquash wishes Amanda Haywood a speedy and complete recovery.
Individual, doubles and team champions
Santo Domingo 2026 produced memorable stories throughout every discipline.
In the individual competition, Leonel Cárdenas of Mexico captured men’s gold, while Margot Prow of Barbados claimed the women’s championship.
Santo Domingo 2026 Individual Results
The doubles competition continued to demonstrate the competitive balance of the region. Colombia’s Laura and María Paula Tovar won women’s doubles, Matías Knudsen and Juan Camilo Vargas delivered men’s doubles gold for Colombia, while Luz Sarahí López and Alfredo Ávila captured the mixed doubles title for Mexico.
Santo Domingo 2026 Doubles Results
Finally, team competition provided a fitting conclusion to the tournament.
Barbados completed its historic run by winning the women’s team gold, while Colombia captured the men’s team championship after defeating Mexico 2-1.
Matías Knudsen defeated the experienced César Salazar 3-0, Leonel Cárdenas kept Mexico alive with another impressive 3-0 performance against Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, and Juan Camilo Vargas secured the championship for Colombia by defeating Alfredo Ávila 3-0.
Santo Domingo 2026 Team Results
Squash is back
The significance of Santo Domingo 2026 extends well beyond the final medal standings.
Squash had been absent from the Central American and Caribbean Games after being excluded from the San Salvador 2022 program. Its return required determination and significant work behind the scenes.
A major part of that effort came from the Federación Dominicana de Squash, led by its president, Irving Vargas, and his team. Here are some words about this historic event:
All the other Federations have been around for many years, we are the youngest and very recent members, and our team is also the youngest in the region. I see this as a resurge of our sport and with the success during the CAC games I believe this has helped us mature and continue our journey feeling more confident which will help us achieve even more.?
When venue challenges threatened the inclusion of squash once again, the Dominican federation continued working with the organizers to find a solution. The result was an innovative venue inside Ágora Mall, bringing two glass courts into one of Santo Domingo’s most prominent public spaces.
Thousands of spectators and visitors were able to experience squash from close range throughout the competition, creating visibility that extended far beyond the traditional squash community.
For PanamSquash, this is an important example of how the sport can reach new audiences when competition is taken into highly visible public spaces.
The people behind the competition
A tournament of this magnitude is only possible because of the people working behind the scenes.
PanamSquash recognizes Reinaldo Rivas (CAN), who served as Technical Director, as well as Sofía Navadeh (CAN), Tournament Referee, and Leonardo Arozena (BRA), Referee Assessor.
The international referee team also included Hope Prockop (USA), Ramiro Maldonado (ARG), Paul Alexander (USA), John Holley (T&T), Edgar Restrepo (PAR), Diego Reyes (MEX) and Juan Echeverria (COL). For the national referees were Esmeralda Balbuena (DOM) and Alejandro Cristoforis (DOM)
The Appeals Panel was formed by Lolly Gillen (CAN), Renato Paiva (USA) and Amber Glasgow (St. Vincent).
PanamSquash also extends its appreciation to the volunteers, tournament staff, organizers, officials, coaches, national federations and everyone who contributed throughout the Games.
Their commitment helped deliver a competition worthy of the athletes representing the region.
A successful return — and a promising future
Eleven countries competed. Seven reached the podium. Colombia finished as the overall squash champion. Barbados made history. New champions emerged, established players continued to inspire, and squash returned to an important multisport stage.
But perhaps the biggest victory was simply seeing Central American and Caribbean squash together again.
Santo Domingo 2026 demonstrated the diversity, competitiveness and potential that exists across our region.
Squash is back at the Central American and Caribbean Games — and its return was worth the wait.