2016 ITTF-Latin American Cup Invites

Olympians Take Precedence, Invitations Announced for ITTF-Latin American Cup
Courtesy of ITTF

Home for the ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals in January 2013, Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala, will be the host for the 2016 ITTF-Latin American Cup.

A three day tournament, play will commence on Friday June 3rd and conclude on Sunday June 5th.

First on List
Twelve players will be in action in each of the Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles events; preference being given to the six players in each discipline who have qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Thus for the men, Brazil’s Hugo Calderano and Gustavo Tsuboi, the defending champion, appear on the invitation list as do the Cuban duo of Jorge Campos and Andy Pereira. Likewise, Puerto Rico’s Brian Afanador and Mexico’s Marcos Madrid are Guatemala bound.

Similar for Women 
Meanwhile for the women, Brazil is also strongly represented in the guise of Caroline Kumahara, the winner one year ago in Havana, and Gui Lin.

Also the presence of Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz, Colombia’s Lady Ruano, Mexico’s Yadira Silva and Venezuela Gremilis Arvelo is requested in Guatemala.

Six Remaining Players
The remaining six players in each event comprise a representative from the host nation, the current highest world ranked player, the 2016 Latin American champion plus the players who were crowned champions in 2015 in each of the three regions – Caribbean, Central America, South America – in the continental federation.

José Miguel Ramirez and Andrea Estrada are the Guatemalan nominees for the respective Men’s and Women’s events; for the Caribbean it is the Dominican Republic’s Emil Santos and Cuba’s Idalys Lovet

In a similar manner for Central America it is El Salvador’s Josué Donado and Estefania Ramirios, for South America Brazil’s Eric Jouti and Chile’s Paulina Vega are the invitees.

Runners Up
However, neither Eric Jouti nor Paulina Vega emerge as the champions at last year’s South American Championships in the Argentine city of Mendoza.

Both were the runners up, Eric Jouti was beaten in the Men’s Singles final by Ecuador’s Alberto Miño, at the same stage of the Women’s Singles event, Paulina Vega, suffered at the hands of Bruna Takahashi.

Both Alberto Miño and Bruna Takahashi receive the nomination from the Latin American Championships staged earlier this year in Puerto Rico.
Alberto Miño was beaten in the final of the Men’s Singles event by Hugo Calderano; as the Brazilian received the invitation as a result of his Rio 2016 Olympic Games qualification, thus the baton passes to the Ecuadorian.

Different Scenario
The situation for Bruna Takahashi is somewhat different, she was beaten by Gui Lin at the semi-final stage of the Women’s Singles event in Puerto Rico; Gui Lin progressed to win the title beating Caroline Kumahara in the final.

In the counterpart semi-final, Caroline Kumahara had overcome Ligia Silva, also from Brazil.

Similar Hugo Calderano, both Gui Lin and Caroline Kumahara are Rio bound. The decision as who would be the Latin American Championships representative rested between Bruna Takahashi and Ligia Silva. The decision was to afford Bruna Takahashi the invitation as she is the higher world ranked player.

On the current Women’s World Rankings, Bruna Takahashi is at no.153, Ligia Silva at no.162.

World Ranking
Eleven players selected; the taking those already qualified out of the equation; the current highest world ranked player gained the invitation. For the men it is Gaston Alto, for the women it is Colombia’s Paula Medina.

Presently on the Men’s World Rankings, Gaston Alto is at no.182; on the Women’s World Rankings Paula Medina is at no.242.

Same Format
Following the policy of previous years, each national association with Latin America is eligible to be represented by three players in each of the Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles events.

Also in line with previous editions, proceedings will be organized in two stages. In the initial phase players will be drawn into four groups, three players in each group; those finishing in first and second positions in each group advance to the main draw.

Play in the main draw play will be organized on a knock-out basis.