by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager

The no.3 seed, Pang Yew En Koen accounted for Belgium’s Laurens Devos, the no.2 seed in the final of the Men’s Singles event (4-11, 11-9, 11-8, 3-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-6), having earlier in the day recorded wins against Panama’s Jacobo Vahnish, the no.6 seed (11-6, 11-6, 11-9, 11-5) and Canada’s Jeremy Hazin, the top seed (11-5, 7-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-8).

In the opposite half of the draw en route to the final, Laurens Devos had beaten Kazakhstan’s Aidos Kenzhigulov, the no.7 seed (7-11, 11-7, 13-11, 11-6, 11-7) and Hong Kong’s Maurice Chong Kai Ning, the no.8 seed (11-9, 17-15, 11-8, 10-12, 11-8). Notably one round earlier Maurice Chong Kai Ning had ended the hopes of Jordan’s Khaled Khader, the no.4 seed (8-11, 11-3, 11-3, 11-9, 11-6).

Hard fought wins, it was not too dissimilar in the Women’s Singles competition for Archana Girish Kamath.
Occupying the top seeded position, she beat Jannah Maryam Romeron of the Philippines (11-13, 8-11, 11-9, 15-13, 11-7, 11-3) and Iran’s Mahshid Ashtari, the no.4 seed (11-2, 11-7, 11-7, 11-5), prior to securing her Buenos Aires invitation by overcoming Malaysia’s Alice Li Sian Chang, the no.5 seed (11-5, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8).

Success for Archana Girish Kamath was as her status advised; for Alice Chang Li Sian, it was somewhat of a surprise. She reserved her place in the final courtesy of wins against Canada’s Ivy Liao, the no.3 seed (11-7, 7-11, 11-4, 8-11, 12-10, 11-9) and Turkey’s Ozge Yilmaz, the no.6 seed (11-6, 6-11, 6-11, 11-3, 6-11, 11-6, 11-6). One round earlier, Ozge Yilmaz had beaten Kazakhstan’s Zauresh Akasheva, the no.2 seed (7-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-4, 11-4).

The second and final knock-out tournament in the Road to Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games qualification tournament will be played on Saturday 9th June.

Continental Tournaments – Qualifiers (as on Saturday 9th June)

Men
Africa: Youssef Abdel Aziz (Egypt), Nathael Hamdoun (Tunisia)
Asia: Tomokazu Harimoto (Japan), Lin Yun-Ju (Chinese Taipei), Wang Chuqin (China), Cho Daeseong (Korea)
Europe: Ioannis Sgouropoulos (Greece), Vladimir Sidorenko (Russia), Medardas Stankievicius (Lithuania), Vladislav Urdu (Moldova)
Latin America: Nicolas Burgos (Chile), Guillerme Teodoro (Brazil)
North America: Kanak Jha (United States)
Oceania: Nathan Xu (New Zealand)

Women
Africa: Esther Oribamise (Nigeria), Marwa Alhodaby (Egypt)
Asia: Miu Hirano (Japan), Sun Yingsha (China), Jinnipa Sawettabut (Thailand), Su Pei-Ling (Chinese Taipei)
Europe: Lucie Gauthier (France), Mariia Tailakova (Russia), Ning Jing (Azerbaijan), Nadezhda Bogdanova (Belarus)
Latin America: Adriana Diaz (Puerto Rico), Bruna Takahashi (Brazil)
North America: Amy Wang (United States)
Oceania: Vong Hui Ling (New Zealand)

Road to Buenos Series (as on Friday 1st June)

Men
Europe: Bastian Rembert (France), Cristian Pletea (Romania)
Africa: Yu Khinhang (Azerbaijan), Amin Ahmadian (Iran)
Latin America: Matteo Mutti (Italy), Yanapong Panagitgun (Thailand)
Asia: Javen Choong (Malaysia), Manav Vikash Thakkar (India)
North America: Kim Song Gun (DPR Korea), Cédric Meissner (Germany)
Oceania: Pang Yew En Koen (Singapore)

Women
Europe: Andreea Dragoman (Romania), Lee Ka Yee (Hong Kong)
Africa: Tatiana Kukulkova (Slovakia), Sabina Surjan (Serbia)
Latin America: Jamila Laurenti (Italy), Goi Rui Xuan (Singapore)
Asia: Choi Haeeun (Korea Republic), Andrea Pavlovic (Croatia)
North America: Pyon Song Gyong (DPR Korea), Franziska Schreiner (Germany)
Oceania: Archana Girish Kamath (India)