(by Steve Hopkins)
With four tough teams in the Women’s Team Event at the 2023 ITTF Pan American Championships, it was not unexpected to see the US faced off against Brazil and Puerto Rico against Chile in the Semifinal matches. The ease with which TeamUSA dispensed of both Brazil in the Semifinal and Puerto Rico in the Final may have surprised some.
Puerto Rico did its part, dropping the doubles match to fall behind, but then winning two singles matches (Adriana Diaz over Zhiying Zeng and Brianna Burgos over Paulina Vega) to take the lead. Melanie Diaz then fell to Zeng to event the score, but Adriana Diaz won the final match to send Puerto Rico to the Final. TeamUSA opened their match with Brazil with Amy Wang and Rachel Sung winning in Doubles over Bruna and Giulia Takahashi. Lily Zhang then won her match over Bruna Alexandre 3-0. Bruna Takahashi then topped Rachel Sung 3-2 to put Brazil on the board, but Amy Wang defeated Alexandre to seal USA’s 3-1 win.
In the Final, Wang and Sung again secured a doubles victory to give TeamUSA the lead. Adriana Diaz narrowly defeated Lily Zhang 3-2 (needing to fight from down 0-2) to even the score. But Rachel Sung defeated Brianna Burgos 3-2, and then Lily Zhang dominated Melanie Diaz 3-0 to secure a 3-1 win. TeamUSA wins the title and both the USA and Puerto Rican teams secure automatic invitations to the Paris Olympics.
On the Men’s side, the final four teams were Brazil, Chile, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Top seeded Brazil narrowly defeated Chile in their Semifinal match. Hugo Calderano won both of his singles matches for Brazil, but because Chile won doubles and Gustavo Gomez upset Eric Jouti (logging a second win for Chile), it was tied 2-2 going into the final Singles match. Brazil was too deep for Chile’s team, as Vitor Ishiy won easily over Alfonso Olave. However, the fourth match was surprisingly at risk when Nicolas Burgos tied his match with Hugo Calderano 2-2 – sending their singles match to a decisive fifth game. Burgos fell just short – just like Chile fell just short.
Brazil went on to win the event – and their deep team of Hugo Calderano, Eric Jouti, and Vitor Ishiy is as strong as any team outside of Asia and Europe. Puerto Rico’s team of Angel Naranjo, Daniel Gonzales, Oscar Birriel, and Brian Afanador can also be congratulated for qualifying for the 2024 World Cup in Korea – as they finished third.
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