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Simon Berglund beaten by Chen Yen-Heng
Photo By: Courtesy of Guatemala TTF
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08/12/2012
2012 Guatemala Junior & Cadet Open - ITTF Junior Circuit
Chinese Taipei’s Chen Yen-Heng was the player to attract the attention on the third day of play, Saturday 11th August 2012, at the Guatemala Junior and Cadet Open in Guatemala City; a day when the Sweden was the country to suffer.
Chen Yen-Heng overcame the Nordic country’s Simon Berglund, the no.2 seed, in his opening group match, recovering from a two games to nil deficit, to post a five games success (8-11, 5-11, 11-3, 12-10, 11-7).
The young man from Chinese Taipei duly completed the group in first place by overcoming the host nation’s Amilcar Acevedo (11-7, 11-6, 13-11), a feat also achieved by Simon Berglund (11-3, 11-3, 11-0).
Second place for the Swede and thus, with the players finishing in first and second place in each group progressing to the main draw, medal hopes remained alive.
No Place in Main Draw
However, for Simon Berglund’s colleague, Elias Ranefur, the no.8 seed, it was not good news; there was no place in the main draw.
In the first stage of the Junior Boys’ Singles event, he suffered in the closest group of the event.
Two Wins
He beat Mexico’s Jose Villa in four games (11-6, 4-11, 18-16, 11-6) in his opening match but then on his second visit to the table was beaten by Puerto Rico’s Ricardo Jimenez, in a similar four games duel (11-6, 11-7, 5-11, 11-2).
A defeat but he recovered to secure victory in his concluding match against Venezuela’s Pablo Navarro again in four games (11-5, 13-11, 9-11, 11-9).
No Luck for Venezuelan
Defeat for Pablo Navarro and he suffered full distance five game defeats against both Ricardo Jimenez (11-2, 7-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-7) and Jose Villa (11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 8-11, 14-12).
Fourth place in the group for the Venezuelan but with Jose Villa beating Ricardo Jimenez in four games (14-12, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9) it meant that Elias Ranefur, Ricardo Jimenez and Jose Villa were all level.
Points Ratio
Furthermore they were level on games ratio when contests between the three players were taken into account. Thus points ratio was the determining factor.
The vote went in favour of Ricardo Jimenez (78:72), with Jose Villa in second place (85:84) and Elias Ranefur third (70:77).
First Places Secured
Otherwise, in the first stage of the Junior Boys’ Singles event the leading names all finished in first place in their respective groups.
Chinese Taipei’s Lai Yi-Yao and Huang Chien-Tu, the respective no.1 and no.3 seeds, experienced few problems as did New Zealand’s Kevin Wu, the no.4 seed.
Similarly for the next three in line, India’s Utkarsh Gupta, Sweden’s Jonas Stener and Venezuela’s Jan Medina it was first place in the group without great travails.
There was no place in the main draw of the Cadet Boys’ Singles event for Birdie Boro
Photo by the Guatemala Table Tennis Federation
Man in Form
However, the man in form was unquestionably Chen Yen-Heng and it was the same in the first stage of the Cadet Boys’ Singles event; where against the odds he finished in first place in his group.
He beat Guatemala’s Baek Dong Ju (11-9, 11-9, 11-5) and Cuba’s Livan Martinez (11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6) before concluding his group stage matches by causing a major upset. He overcame India’s Birdie Boro, the no.5 seed (11-9, 4-11, 14-12, 12-10) to top the group.
No Place in Main Draw
Defeat for Birdie Boro and it was his second defeat.
Earlier he had suffered against Livan Martinez (11-6, 12-10, 11-5) and had to settle for third place in the group. Livan Martinez secured second place and progressed to the main draw by overcoming Baek Dong Ju in four games (11-3, 8-11, 11-4, 11-6).
Defeat but Not Terminal
A reverse for the fifth seed and there was also defeat for the sixth seed, Ecuador’s Marlon Vite but it was not terminal.
He was beaten by Theodore Tran of the United States (11-4, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8) but wins over Guatemala’s Noe Sanchez (11-1, 11-5, 11-5) and Stephen Payne from Barbados (10-12, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8) reserved second place in the group and a passport to the main draw.
Topped Group
Theodore Tran topped the group; he beat Stephen Payne (6-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-2) and Noe Sanchez (11-1, 11-5, 12-10).
No Problems
Problems for two highly rated names but for the others, there were no great concerns.
The respective top four seeds; Sweden’s Simon Berglund and Chinese Taipei’s Huang Chien-Tu in addition to India’s Utkarsh Gupta and Anirban Ghosh all finished in first place in their respective groups as did the seventh and eighth seeds.
It was a successful day for Lairin Puia, also from India and Krishnateja Avvari of the United States.
Conclusion
Play concludes on Sunday 12th August 2012.
Problems for Marlon Vite in the Cadet Boys’ Singles event but a place in the man draw was secured
Photo by the Guatemala Table Tennis Federation
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