by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager
In the opening fixture of the day, a three matches to nil win was posted in opposition to the combination formed by Colombia’s Santiago Montes and Chile’s Esteban Nannig, before a three-one margin of victory was secured against the pairing of Singapore’s Josh Shao Han Chua and Jamaica’s Alessio Tulloch.
The one errant match was the opening contest when Josh Shao Han Chua recovered from a two games to nil deficit to beat Terence Yeung by the very narrowest of five games margins (4-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 14-12). However, wins from Jeremy Hazin against Alessio Tulloch (11-5, 11-1, 11-7) and Josh Shao Han Chua (11-7, 13-11, 8-11, 11-8) plus sandwiched in between a doubles success (11-7, 7-11, 11-6, 11-5) ensured victory.
Success for the top seeds but for the second seeds, it was defeat. The United States pairing of Sharon Alguetti and Gal Alguetti suffered at the hands of China’s Sun Zheng and Yang Quleng. Notably Sharon Alguetti beat both Yang Qulong (9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-6) and Sun Zheng (10-12, 15-13, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6).
Sun Zheng and Yang Quleng duly remained unbeaten to secure first place in the group, for Sharon Alguetti and Gal Alguetti it was second position and thus progress to the knock-out stage.
Differing fortunes for the top two pairings as play began, for the next two outfits in the order of merit it was a day unbeaten. Chile’s Andres Martinez and Jorge Paredes, the no.3 seeds, duly topped their group, as did the United States partnership of Victor Liu and Michael Minh Tran.
Play in the Junior Boys’ Team event concludes on Tuesday 29th May.
