by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager
Backbone of the victory was Marco Navas; in the opening match of the engagement he beat Eric Jouti (11-6, 15-13, 5-11, 11-5), prior to in the vital fifth and concluding contest, accounting for Thiago Monteiro (11-9, 11-7, 11-8).
The one remaining success for Venezuela was clinched in the second match of the engagement when Cecilio Correa defeated Vitor Ishiy by the very narrowest of margins (4-11, 11-7, 11-6, 1-11, 11-9). It was with the benefit of hindsight was most pivotal contest in the fixture.
Defeat for the Brazilians but in their second fixture of the day, they recovered to overcome Peruvian combination of Bryan Blas, Rodrigo Hidalgo and Diego Rodriguez by three matches to nil.
One fixture remains in the group, Peru meets Venezuela; whatever the outcome Brazil is assured of a minimum second place and thus progress to the main draw. Three groups in the initial phase of proceedings, teams finishing in first and second positions in each group advance to the knock-out rounds.
A shock defeat for the top seeds, for the next two in the order of merit it was day unbeaten and first position in the group assured.
Chile, the no.2 seeds, with Gustavo Gomez, Juan Lamadrid and Felipe Olivares on duty, topped their group without any alarm; likewise for the no.3 seeds, the Argentine trio comprising Gaston Alto, Horacio Cifuentes and Pablo Tabachnik, it was pole position.
The initial stage and the quarter-final round of the Men’s Team event will be concluded on Sunday 3rd June; the semi-finals and final will be held on Monday 4th June.
