by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager

A three-nil victory in opposition to the Barbadian trio of Mark Dowell, Tyrese Knight and Marcus Smith secured first place in the group; a comfortable start to the day but at the quarter-final stage life was somewhat more hectic when facing Mexico.

Success by three matches to two was the end result with Jorge Campos the hero of the hour. In the opening match of the fixture he beat Ricardo Villa (11-6, 9-11, 11-3, 13-11), before in the fifth and deciding contest of the engagement, sealing the victory by recovering from a two games to nil deficit to overcome Miguel Lara (9-11, 13-15, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8).

The one further win for Cuba was secured by Livan Martinez; he beat Ricardo Villa in the fourth match the contest (11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6), after Damien Arce had accounted for Juan Rondon (12-10, 11-3, 7-11, 12-10) and then teamed with Miguel Lara to defeat Livan Martinez and Juan Rondon to give Mexico a two-one lead.

Exacting times for Cuba, for the Dominican Republic it was slightly less fraught. Fielding the selection of Samuel Galvez, Mariano Lockward and Isaac Vila throughout, a three-one win was posted in their concluding group phase contest in opposition to Guyana’s Christopher Franklin, Shemar Britton and Oscar Villalta, before the same margin of victory was recorded against the Argentine trio comprising Gaston Alto, Daniel Len and Santiago Lorenzo.

Against Guyana, the player to cause the Dominican Republic problems was Shemar Britton; in the second match of the fixture he beat Mariano Lockward in five games (11-7, 11-7, 10-12, 7-11, 11-4).

Meanwhile for Argentina, their one success was gained by Santiago Lorenzo, in the opening match, he overcame Samuel Galvez (11-7, 3-11, 11-5, 11-6).

Success for Santiago Lorenzo but there was to be no further Argentine success. Emil Santos beat Gaston Alto (11-7, 14-12, 8-11, 3-11, 11-3), before Samuel Galvez and Isaac Vila secured a doubles win in opposition to Gaston Alto and Daniel Len (15-13, 11-9, 11-6) to give the Dominican Republic the advantage. Matters concluded with Isaac Vila recovering from a two games to nil deficit to overcome Santiago Lorenzo (6-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-4).

In the penultimate round the Dominican Republic faces Chile, Cuba confronts Brazil; both Brazil and Chile had finished in first places in their respective groups one day earlier and gained direct entries to the semi-finals.

The penultimate round fixtures will be played on Tuesday 6th March, the final on Wednesday 7th March.

2018 Latin American Senior Championships: Men’s Team & Women’s Team – Seeding (Sunday 4th March)

2018 Latin American Senior Championships: Results – Men’s Team (Monday 5th March)

2018 Latin American Senior Championships: Detailed Results -Men’s Team (Monday 5th March)

2018 Latin American Senior Championships: Results – Women’s Team (Monday 5th March)

2018 Latin American Senior Championships: Detailed Results – Women’s Team (Monday 5th March)

2018 Latin American Senior Championships: Draw – Men’s Doubles (Monday 5th March)

2018 Latin American Senior Championships: Draw – Women’s Doubles (Monday 5th March)

2018 Latin American Senior Championships: Draw – Mixed Doubles (Monday 5th March)