by Ian Marshall, Editor

Winner of the Men’s Singles Class 3 title, two days earlier in partnership with Rolando Loustric and Carlo Bienati; Gabriel Copola emerged successful in Men’s Team Class 2-3. At the final hurdle a two matches to nil victory margin was the outcome in opposition to Chile’s Luis Bustamente Flores, Alfonso Diaz Angel and Carlos Torres.

“It has been an excellent run for me. Playing at home makes you want to stand out but also last year I failed to win here so I was fully set on making up for that. I was able to improve during the singles tournament, facing rivals with lower ranking and dealing with the pressure of being somewhat of a favourite. In the team competition we did a fantastic job with Rolo. I want to credit him because he usually is the targeted player in doubles matches; he did a great job. To end the year in a winning fashion it’s great for me. Next year I will try to open up in a similar way, trying to feel better and better for each step to come. I plan to play tournaments in Europe, hoping to earn good results for the race to Tokyo 2020, the Para Pamamerican Games in Lima will also be very important.” Gabriel Copola

Notably for Luis Bustamente Flores, he added to his collection of silverware in Buenos Aires; earlier in the proceedings he had won Men’s Singles Class 1-2.

Likewise Elias Romero, the Men’s Singles Class 5 winner, enjoyed success on the concluding day of action; he joined forces with compatriots Mauro Depergola and Daniel Rodriguez to secure Men’s Team Class 5 gold.

“This is a tournament I have been playing in for a long time. I had some losses but I also achieved many wins here. I came third in the singles competition. However, I was expecting to do better, as I have had a wonderful year. Luckily, at the team competition I was finally able to do better and it’s nice to contribute to a gold medal for my country.” Mauro Depergola

Similar to their colleague in Class 2-3, they beat Chilean opposition in the final. Impressively they recorded a two-nil when facing Cristian Gonzalez and Maximiliano Rodriguez. Success for Argentina in the wheelchair categories, in the standing events, all organized on a group formula, there was also gold.

Winner of Men’s Singles Class 6-7, Aleksy Kaniuka, known as the golden boy, partnered colleague Pablo Ferro to success in Men’s Team Class 6-7; the pair finishing ahead of Rodrigo Demoor and Emanuel Martinez, also from Argentina.

“I’m so happy, as this was the way I wanted to finish the year. I could see an improvement in myself during the teams competition. I played better, I felt more sure of my game and that attitude pulled me through. It’s very nice to wrap up the tournament this way.” Aleksy Kaniuka

Three titles for Argentina as the curtain closed; for Indonesia it was two in number. Leonardo Aritonang and Abdul Mail Abdullah secured Class 8 gold with Ecuador’s Paul Polo and Gabriel Salazar in runners up spot.

“This is a consequence of all the hard work we did during the year. It’s a great achievement for the country. We are very happy, the entire team.” Gabriel Salazar

Impressive from Leonardo Aritonang and Abdul Mail Abdullah, it was the same from their colleagues David Jacobs, Komet Akbar and Kusnanto in Men’s Team Class 9-10. They finished in first position ahead of Chile’s Manuel Echaveguren and Alvaro Vega; notably two days earlier David Jacobs had won Men’s Singles Class 10.

Play concluded in Buenos Aires, next on the calendar is the Copa Costa Rica, play in the three day tournament starts in San José on Wednesday 5th December.

2018 Copa Tango Para Open: Latest Results and Main Event Draws