Burlington badminton ace ready for men's doubles at Pan Am Games

Adam Dong will represent Canada at the Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile.

Dong will compete in men’s doubles along with partner Nyl Yakura of Pickering, who won a gold medal at the 2019 Pan Am Games in Peru.

Dong and Yakura won the Pan American championships in Jamaica in April, defeating fellow Canadians Kevin Lee and Ty Lindeman in the final. It was the second straight medal at the Pan Am championships for the duo, after taking the bronze in 2022.

Despite their victory in Jamaica, Dong and Yakura will be the No. 2 seed in Chile, behind Lee and Lindeman.

Dong and Yakura also represented Canada at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in England, where they reached the round of 16 before being knocked out by the eventual silver medalists, Ben Lane and Sean Vendy of England.

Dong was the 2011 Chinese junior champion before moving to Canada in 2014. He was a three-time Canadian collegiate champion in doubles while attending Humber College. The 29-year-old is the founder and high-performance coach at Burlington’s Lions Badminton.

The Pan Am Games open Oct. 20 and the badminton competition runs from Oct. 21-25.