Sydney Wallace picked up some valuable lessons when she faced off against her childhood friend Margot Prow, from Barbados, in the women’s singles main round of 16 at the Pan American Squash Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Friday.

Prow, the 3-4 seed, took the match 11-5, 11-6, 11-0, to advance to the quarter-finals. The two know each other well from their time when they were youngsters in England, before they represented their respective countries at senior level.

“Margot and I actually grew up together playing on the junior circuit,” Wallace said.

“She’s done incredibly well since then, so it’s an honour to play her again after all these years.

“Even though I lost, I thought it was a positive performance that gave me some confidence going into the challenging team event. I’m hoping to use this momentum now and keep pushing forward.”

Noah Browne was eliminated by Argentinian Miguel Pujol from the men’s singles parallel draw round of 16. Pujol triumphed 11-3, 11-6, 11-6 to secure his spot in the last eight.

Micah Franklin, the Bermuda Squash Racquets Association’s head of squash, emphasised that the main focus is on the team event, which serves as a qualifier for the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games.

“Friday concluded the individual events for Team Bermuda,” Franklin said.

“Sydney Wallace and Noah Browne played and fought to the last point. They did the best they could, but we also knew that the individual event wasn't the main focus.

“It was great to get those extra matches, but we knew that we were going to be up against tough opposition.

“Now moving on to the team event, we need to try and finish in the top five in our bracket to qualify for the CAC Games.

“We know there’s going to be some tough matches, but our transition now shifts to that and we’ll give it our all.”