by Ian Marshall, Editor
Success for Adriana Diaz at the tournament’s inaugural edition, accounting for Wu Yue of the United States in a seven games final, it was just one of two titles that escaped Brazilian hands. The other was the Women’s Doubles in which Wu Yue had also concluded matters in runners up spot. Partnering colleague Crystal Wang, the duo experienced defeat at the hands of Canada’s Alicia Côté and Zhang Mo.
In Santiago, Alicia Côté and Zhang Mo are once again together but for Wu Yue there is a new partner; she joins forces with Lily Zhang; the pairs occupy the respective top two seeded positions. Meanwhile, in the Women’s Singles event Wu Yue is the no.3 seed behind Zhang Mo and Adriana Diaz; Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi completes the top four names.
Similarly, beaten in the Men’s Singles final in Cartagena da Indias by Hugo Calderano, compatriot Thiago Monteiro is once again on duty but if he is to repeat the feat he may well have to cause a series of upsets. He is the no.8 seed; Kanak Jha of the United States heads the list followed by Paraguay’s Marcelo Aguirre, Brazil’s Eric Jouti and Argentina’s Horacio Cifuentes; Puerto Rico’s Brian Afanador is the no.6 seed with Chile’s Gustavo Gomez being the next in line.
Ever more successful on the international scene, having impressed earlier this year at the Liebherr 2018 World Team Championships and more recently at the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Swedish Open, the name of Eric Jouti appears prominently in both the Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles events. In Cartagena de India, partnering Vitor Ishiy, the duo struck Men’s Doubles gold beating Cuba’s Jorge Campos and Andy Pereira in the final; in the Mixed Doubles, partnering Gui Lin, it was runners up spot, defeat at the hands of Vitor Ishiy and Bruna Takahashi.
At the 2018 ITTF-Pan America Championships, Vitor Ishiy and Eric Jouti occupy the top seeded spot ahead of Paraguay’s Marcelo Aguirre and Alejandro Toranzos. Lurking lower down the order, Jorge Campos and Andy Pereira are listed in the no.9 seeded position
Similarly, in Mixed Doubles order of merit, somewhat down the order, one place ahead of Eric Jouti and Gui Lin, Vitor Ishiy and Bruna Takahashi appear in the no.4 seeded position. Kanak Jha and Wu Yue head the list, followed by Brian Afanador and Adriana Diaz; next in line is Eugene Wang and Canadian colleague Zhang Mo.
The individual schedule begins with the Women’s Singles event.
