Top four seeds dominate opening day in Argentina
(by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor)
First place in the group the target and thus a guaranteed place in the main draw; when play closed on Tuesday 20th June, the leading outfits in the Girls’ Team event at the 2017 Pan American Junior Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina had duly achieved the goal.
Impressive, the United States, Brazil, Canada and Puerto Rico all completed their initial phase fixtures without experiencing defeat.
The only outfits to experience a semblance of difficulty were Brazil and Puerto Rico.
In their opening fixture of the day, Brazil surrendered one match when facing Paraguay; the player to cause the problems being Lujan Rotela, she accounted for Tamyres Fukase in the third contest of the engagement (4-11, 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9).
However that was the total success for Paraguay. Bruna Takahashi beat Cielo Mutti (11-8, 11-4, 11-3) and Leyla Gomez (11-8, 11-6, 13-11) to seal the win; the one further success for the Brazilians being recorded in the second match of the fixture when Alexia Takashima overcame Leyla Gomez (11-6, 11-6, 13-11).
Success in their opening contest, the Brazilian trio duly concluded their initial phase schedule with a three-nil win over the Guatemalan trio formed by Lucia Cordero, Hidalyn Zapata and Paula Acevedo.
Similarly there was just one reverse for the Puerto Rican trio formed by Adriana Diaz, Fabiola Diaz and Milesha Sanchez. After recording a three-nil win against the Barbados outfit comprising Janae Lewis, Kenady King and Jaze Griffith; a three-one victory margin was the outcome in opposition to Ecuador.
Emely Quinllin emerged the player to ask the questions. In the third match of the fixture, she beat Fabiola Diaz (11-8, 11-7, 11-7) but wins for Adriana Diaz in opposition to Paola Cedeño (11-2, 11-5, 11-3) and when facing Nathaly Paredes (10-12, 11-5, 11-5, 11-7) helped secure a Puerto Rican victory. Mileysha Sanchez added the one further success for Caribbean outfit; in the first match of the meeting, she overcame Nathaly Paredes (7-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9).
“We’re trying to achieve first place. It is the first time the other girls in the team have played at international level. Our aim is to qualify for the World Junior Championships later this year in Italy.” Adriana Diaz
Meanwhile for the North Americans there were no moments of charity. The United States trio formed by Crystal Wang, Grace Yang and Rachel Sung posted three-nil wins against the Dominican Republic’s Cinthya Sanchez, Esmerlyn Castro and Rosa Torres, followed by the same margin of success in opposition to Argentina’s Muriel Rajmil, Camila Kaizoji and Candela Perez.
Likewise there was no stopping the Canadian trio of Alicia Cote, Ivy Liao and Justina Yeung.
They accounted for the Mexican outfit comprising Clio Barcenas, Lourdes Guttierez and Maria Vega, before ending the day with a second three matches to nil success when confronting Peru’s Kelly Santur, Andrea Guzman and Isabel Duffoo.
Proceedings in the Girls’ Team event continue on Wednesday 21st June with the start of the second phase fixtures.
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