by Ian Marshall, Editor

Success for the United States against Brazil and success for the second time in the day; earlier in the afternoon the two countries had met, the outfit comprising Rachel Sung, Amy Wang and Crystal Wang had recorded a three-two success on opposition to Bruna Takakashi, Fernanda Kodama and Livia Lima.

Architect of the victory for the Boys’ Team was Kanak Jha; in the second match of the fixture he beat Eduardo Tomoike (11-9, 11-7, 15-13), after Guilherme Teodoro had given Brazil the early lead by overcoming Nikhil Kumar (15-13, 6-11, 11-9, 11-5). Nicholas Tio extended the advantage for the United States by defeating Enzo Nakashima (15-13, 6-11, 11-9, 11-5), before Kanak Jha returned to the action to conclude matters. He accounted for Guilherme Teodoro (15-13, 6-11, 11-9, 11-5).

Impressive from the United States, it was even more impressive from Argentina; the trio comprising Martin Bentancor, Leandro Fuentes and Santiago Lorenzo offered no charity when facing their South American counterparts Nicolas Burgos, Andres Martinez and Jorge Paredes.

Santiago Lorenzo gave Argentina the perfect start by beating Andres Martinez (11-8, 12-10, 13-15, 8-11, 11-4), before Martin Bentancor accounted for Nicolas Burgos (11-5, 13-11, 11-9) to double the lead and Leandro Fuentes overcame Jorge Paredes (12-10, 11-5, 11-8) to end matters.

Places in the final means that the United States and Argentina have qualified to compete in the Boys’ Team event at the 2018 World Junior Championships to be staged later in the year in the Australian city of Bendigo.

One place remains; Pan America being eligible for three teams in Bendigo.

Chile now plays Puerto Rico, Brazil opposes Canada, the winners of those contests meet to determine the third place. The previous day at the quarter-final stage Puerto Rico had experienced a three-nil defeat at the hands of Brazil, at the same stage Canada had suffered a three-two reverse when facing Chile.

Play in the Boys’ Team event concludes on Thursday 12th July.