Uriel Francisco Canjura Artiga (born 12 September 2000) is a Salvadoran badminton player.[4][5] He is a bronze medalist at the 2023 Pan American Games; and also the silver medalists at the 2023 and 2024 Pan Am Championships.

Uriel Canjura
Personal information
CountryEl Salvador
Born (2000-09-12) 12 September 2000 (age 24)
Suchitoto, El Salvador.[1]
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)[2]
Weight55 kg (121 lb)[2]
HandednessRight[3]
Men's singles
Highest ranking49 (7 November 2023)
Current ranking52 (27 August 2024)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  El Salvador
Pan American Games
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Santiago Men's singles
Pan Am Championships
Silver medal – second place 2023 Kingston Men's singles
Silver medal – second place 2024 Guatemala City Men's singles
Bronze medal – third place 2022 San Salvador Men's singles
Junior Pan American Games
Silver medal – second place 2021 Cali–Valle Boys' singles
Silver medal – second place 2021 Cali–Valle Mixed doubles
BWF profile

Career

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Canjura started playing badminton at the age of 9, when his stepfather Andrés Ardón, who was also a member of the Salvadoran Badminton Federation, became his first coach. Initially, he used to play soccer but later switched to badminton. Developing his skills in the sport, he went on to represent El Salvador at the 2018 Youth Olympics, where he was also chosen to be the flag bearer for his country. He studied general high school at the Agustina Charvin School in San Salvador and graduated in 2018. In his career so far, he has won international titles in El Salvador, Brazil, and Suriname, besides winning a silver medal at the Pan American Championships in 2024.[6] Canjura qualified to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics,[7][8] and became the first ever Salvadoran badminton player at the Olympics.[9] He was assigned as the country flag bearer during the parade of nations in the 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.[10]

Achievements

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Pan American Games

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Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result Ref
2023 Olympic Training Center, Santiago, Chile   Brian Yang 11–21, 10–21   Bronze [11]

Pan Am Championships

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Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2022 Palacio de los Deportes Carlos "El Famoso" Hernández, San Salvador, El Salvador   Kevin Cordón 18–21, 21–18, 13–21   Bronze
2023 G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport, Kingston, Jamaica   Brian Yang 10–21, 5–21   Silver
2024 Teodoro Palacios Flores Gymnasium, Guatemala City, Guatemala   Kevin Cordón 21–14, 17–21, 13–21   Silver

Junior Pan American Games

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Boys' singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2021 Pacific Valley Events Center, Yumbo, Valle, Colombia   Brian Yang 8–21, 6–21   Silver

Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2021 Pacific Valley Events Center,
Yumbo, Valle, Colombia
  Fátima Centeno   Brian Yang
  Rachel Chan
13–21, 14–21   Silver

BWF International Challenge/Series (5 titles, 4 runners-up)

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Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2019 El Salvador International   Howard Shu 21–11, 11–21, 21–13   Winner
2021 El Salvador International   Donnians Oliveira 21–14, 21–12   Winner
2022 Brazil International   Bernardo Atilano 21–17, 21–15   Winner
2022 Guatemala International   Giovanni Toti 20–22, 20–22   Runner-up
2022 Peru International   Jonathan Matías 12–21, 15–21   Runner-up
2022 El Salvador International   Kevin Cordón 21–18, 21–23, 21–18   Winner
2023 Peru International   Fabio Caponio 11–21, 18–21   Runner-up
2023 Suriname International   Giovanni Toti 21–11, 21–12   Winner

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2017 Guatemala Future Series   Fátima Centeno   Jonathan Solís
  Nikté Sotomayor
15–21, 12–21   Runner-up
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament
  BWF Future Series tournament

BWF Junior International (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

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Boys' singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2016 Guatemala Junior International   Andrés Ramírez 21–12, 21–19   Winner
2016 Colombia Junior International   Christopher Martínez 21–17, 21–10   Winner
2018 Mexican Junior International   Fabrício Farias 19–21, 14–21   Runner-up

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2016 Colombia Junior International   Fátima Centeno   Yamit Gironza
  Tatiana Muñoz
21–12, 22–20   Winner
  BWF Junior International Challenge tournament
  BWF Junior International Series tournament
  BWF Junior Future Series tournament

References

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  1. ^ Acosta, Sara (16 December 2023). "El Salvador cuenta los días para ver en París 2024 al jugador de bádminton Uriel Canjura". Infobae (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Uriel Canjura – Biographical information". Olympedia. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  3. ^ "Canjura Artiga Uriel Francisco". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Uriel Francisco Canjura Artiga". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  5. ^ "Uriel Canjura el badmintonista de plata panamericana forjado en Suchitoto". National Institute of Sports of El Salvador. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  6. ^ "Uriel Canjura". El Salvador Olympic Committee. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  7. ^ Pizarro, Carlos (21 April 2024). "Uriel Canjura: El orgullo salvadoreño en los juegos olímpicos de Paris 2024" (in Spanish). Radio France Internationale. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  8. ^ "El bádminton, con Uriel Canjura, pone a El Salvador en París" (in Spanish). SWI swissinfo. 14 April 2024. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  9. ^ "Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualifiers finalised". Badminton World Federation. 10 May 2024. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  10. ^ Escalante, Varinia (21 July 2024). "El abanderado Uriel Canjura ya viaja a París" (in Spanish). Elsalvador.com. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  11. ^ "Uriel Canjura recibe medalla de bronce para El Salvador en los Panamericanos Santiago 2023". El Gráfico (El Salvador) (in Spanish). 25 October 2023. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
Olympic Games
Preceded by Flag bearer for   El Salvador
Paris 2024
with
Celina Márquez
Succeeded by
Incumbent