by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Star of the show for Puerto Rico was Kassandra Maldonado; facing Chile, the top seeds and favourites for the title, with matters level at two games all, the young lady from Utuado, the same town as Adriana Diaz, in fact she is Adriana’s cousin, kept her nerve to beat Jerusalen Flores by the very narrowest of margins (11-3, 11-5, 5-11, 15-17, 13-11) to secure a nail-biting victory.

Earlier Valentina Rios had beaten Kassandra Maldonado (11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8) and Fabiola Diaz (11-7, 12-10, 11-7) to secure the two wins for Chile; the two further wins for Puerto Rico were clinched by Fabiola Diaz and Zulnamy Soto. Fabiola Diaz overcame Jerusalen Flores in the second match of the fixture (11-7, 14-12, 11-13, 11-7); one match later Zulnamy Soto beat Mariam Ruiz.

Both outfits accounted for the Argentine trio of Divina Ding, Isabella Fragapane and Valentina Parola; Chile made one change to the line-up that faced Puerto Rico, Claudia Infante was preferred to Mariam Ruiz.

Thus for Chile it was second place in the group and a passport to the main draw; teams finishing in first and second positions in each of the three groups, advanced to the knock-out stage.

A surprise win for Puerto Rico in their opening match of the day, for Mexico, it was a surprise win in their concluding fixture of the day.

Selecting from Marbella Aceves, Clio Barcenas, Ana Magana and Monica Muñoz, a three-one win was recorded against the Dominican Republic’s Estefany Rodriguez, Dahyana Rojas and Rosa Torres, followed by a three-nil success in opposition to Guatemala’s Mariana Lopez, Mercedes Mendizabal and Stefanie Orellana.

Ready and prepared, the Mexicans beat Ecuador, the no.2 seeds, by three matches to nil, to end the day in emphatic style. Clio Barcenas overcame Karen Muñoz (11-4, 13-11, 11-3), Marbella Aceves accounted for Mylena Plaza (12-10, 11-6, 11-7), before Monica Muñoz concluded matters by proving too strong for Damaris Sanmartin (11-8, 12-10, 11-3).

Defeat for Ecuador but it was their only defeat of the day, thus like Chile, it was second place and progress to the main draw.

Two unexpected first places and there was one more but somewhat less an upset. Peru, the no.4 seeds, represented by Alessandra Cisneros, Daniela Enriquez and Alejandra Medina, finished in first place in their group. The surprise was that El Salvador, the no.3 seeds, represented by Cristina Machado, Monica Mendoza and Kenny Orellana finished in third place.

Second place behind the unbeaten Peruvians was secured by Colombia who selected from Alejandra Alzate, Luisa Cardenas, Marta Casas and Manuela Echeverry.

In the crucial contest which was eventually was to determine second place, they beat El Salvador by three matches to one; mainstay of the victory being Manuela Echeverry. She accounted for Kenny Orellana (11-3, 11-3, 11-2) and Monica Mendoza (11-7, 11-5, 11-9).

The quarter-finals and semi-finals will be played on Wednesday 9th August, the final on Thursday 10th August.

2017 Latin American Cadet Championships: Prospectus (Monday 7th August

2017 Latin American Cadet Championships: Entries (Monday 7th August)

2017 Latin American Cadet Championships: Schedule of Play (Monday 7th August)

2017 Latin American Cadet Championships: Team Seeding (Monday 7th August)

2017 Latin American Cadet Championships: First Stage – Boys’ Team (Tuesday 8th August)

2017 Latin American Cadet Championships: Main Draw – Boys’ Team (Wednesday 9th August)

2017 Latin American Cadet Championships: First Stage – Girls’ Team (Tuesday 8th August)

2017 Latin American Cadet Championships: Main Draw – Girls’ Team (Wednesday 9th August)

2017 Latin American Cadet Championships: Main Draw – Boys’ Doubles (Friday 11th August)

2017 Latin American Cadet Championships: Main Draw – Girls’ Doubles Friday 11th August)

2017 Latin American Cadet Championships: Main Draw – Mixed Doubles (Friday 11th August)

2017 Latin American Cadet Championships: First Stage – Boys’ Singles (Thursday 10th August)

2017 Latin American Cadet Championships: First Stage – Girls’ Singles (Thursday 10th August)