by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Both Gustavo Gomez and Juan Lamadrid performed most creditably last year when the tournament was a member of the ITTF World Tour.

Impressively Gustavo Gomez reached the quarter-final stage of the Men’s Singles event where Frenchman and champion elect, Antoine Hachard, ended progress; Juan La Madrid advanced to the final of the Under 21 Men’s Singles competition eventually losing to Germany’s Florian Schreiner.

Furthermore, both were also on duty at the South American Championships staged in Antioquia, Colombia; both advanced to the quarter-final stage of the Men’s Singles event.

Similarly, Paulina Vega, runner up in the Women’s Singles event at the 2002 Latin American Championships, staged in the Dominican Republic, also enjoyed impressive results last year.

She finished in third place in the ITTF-Latin American Cup staged in Guatemala, in addition to progressing to the quarter-final stage of the Women’s Singles event at the South American Championships. At the ITTF World Tour Chile Open, she progressed to the round of the last eight where Colombia’s Polona Medina ended adventures.

Meanwhile, for Judith Morales, times were more testing; it was a first round Women’s Singles exit at both the ITTF World Tour Chile Open and at the South American Championships.

In the Men’s Singles event, Gustavo Gomez is the seventh highest rated player on duty, Juan Lamadrid is 10th on the list; for the Women’s Singles, Paulina Vega is the third highest, Judith Morales, the fifth in the order of merit.

Notably in the Men’s Doubles event Gustavo Gomez and Juan La Madrid join forces; it is the same in the Women Doubles where Judith Morales partners Paulina Vega.