Second seed Zhang, a 31-year-old who was born in China but represents the United States, unseated Canada’s number one seed Michelle Li as the champion of the women’s singles event.

Li is a five-time Pan American Games champion, eight-time Pan Am Championships winner and a gold medallist in women's singles at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The pair are expected to face resistance from the likes of America’s Iris Wang and Lauren Lam and Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang.

Yang enters the competition as the number one seed and will seek to defend his crown against challengers including Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon, Canada’s Jason Ho-shue and Brazil’s Ygor Coelho.

The trio are all Pan American Games gold medallists.

New champions are anticipated in the men’s doubles with Guatemala’s number one seed pairing of Jonathan Solis and Anibal Marroquin and Mexico’s second seed duo of Job Castillo and Luis Montoya all in contention.

Brazil’s number one seed Fabricio Farias and Jaqueline Lima and second seeds Solis and Diana Corleto of Guatemala are the favourites to top the podium in the mixed doubles.

Defending title holders Rachel Honderich and Kristen Tsai of Canada enter the women’s doubles as the top seeds.

They are expected to face challenges from pairs including Canada’s Catherine Choi and Josephine Wu, Jaqueline Lima and Samia Lima of Brazil and Nikte Sotomayo and Diana Corleto of Guatemala.

The 25^th edition of the competition is due to feature competitors from 18 countries and is scheduled to end on May 1.