Continued Progress, Eyes on Promotion, the Day Belongs to Puerto Rico
Courtesy of ITTF
More progress than any other national association in recent times; the fifth day of play, Thursday March 3rd in Division Two of both the Men’s and Women’s events at the Perfect 2016 World Team Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, belonged to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico.
Full distance five match victories were the order of proceedings in both disciplines.
Brian Afanador
Man of the moment for the Men’s Team was Brian Afanador; he beat both Rodrigo Gilabert (11-2, 12-10, 11-7) and Gaston Alto (12-10, 11-7, 8-11, 6-11, 11-8) as victory was recorded against Latin American rivals Argentina.
The one further win for Puerto Rico was posted in the concluding match of the engagement, when Daniel Gonzalez defeated the luckless Rodrigo Gilabert (11-7, 9-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7). The wins for Argentina were secured by Gaston Alto in the opening match against Daniel Gonzalez (11-2, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8) and by Horacio Cifuentes two duels later when opposing Hector Berrios (11-8, 11-7, 11-8).
Beat England
Meanwhile, in the counterpart Women’s event, they beat the most established nation of all, the country where the sport began; they beat England.
Kelly Sibley accounted for Melanie Diaz (11-9, 11-4, 11-6) and Adriana Diaz (8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9) but that was to be the only success for England. Tin-Tin Ho experienced defeat at the hands of Adriana Diaz (11-9, 11-8, 11-5) and in the vital fifth and concluding match of the contest when facing Melanie Diaz (6-11, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10).
The one further success for Puerto Rico was recorded by Carelyn Cordero, in the third match of the engagement she overcame Karina Le Fevre (11-7, 3-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8).
Remaining Contests
Success for Puerto Rico; in the remaining first round fixtures in the Men’s event there were wins for Belgium, Serbia and India, in the counterpart Women’s competition Vietnam, Switzerland and Croatia emerged successful in their contests.
Belgium with Cédric Nuytinck, Robin Devos and Lauric Jean on duty accounted the Slovak Republic trio of Lubomir Pistej, Peter Sereda and Alexander Vakuch by three matches to two; whilst by the same margin, Serbia’s Aleksandar Karakasevic, Marko Jevtovic and Zsolt Peto overcame Iran’s Nima Alamian, Noshad Alamiyan and Afshin Noorozi.
India
Full distance wins, for India it was success in four matches against the Hungarian outfit formed by Tamasa Lakatos, Nandor Ecseki and Marton Szita.
India fielded the trio comprising Soumyajit Ghosh, Sharath Kamal Achanta and Amalraj Anthony.
More Heartache for Slovak Republic
Disappointment for the Slovak Republic, it was the same in Women’s event.
The outfit comprising Eva Jutkova, Tatians Kukulkova and Ema Labosova suffered a three-one defeat when facing Vietnam’s Mai Hoang My Trang, Nguyen Thai Nga and Nguyen Thi Viet Linh.
An impressive win for Vietnam, it was the same for Croatia. Fielding the trio of Tian Yuan, Lea Rakovac and Petra Petek; they beat Belgium’s Eline Loyen, Lisa Lung and Margo Defraef by three matches to nil.
Switzerland
A comfortable win for Croatia; it was much different for Switzerland’s Rahel Moret, Rahel Aschwanden and Céline Reust.
They beat Slovenia’s Alex Galic, Tamara Pavcnik and Manca Falmut by three matches two.
Schedule
The quarter and semi-final fixtures in both the Men’s and Women’s events in the Perfect 2016 World Team Championships will be played on Friday March 4th.
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