by Ian Marshall, Editor

The spotlight fell on the host nation’s Brian Afanador and Adriana Diaz

…………Brian Afanador, the no.7 seed in the men’s event, was beaten by Brazil’s Hugo Calderano, the top seed (11-9, 11-4, 11-9, 11-9).

…………Adriana Diaz, the no.2 seed, brought the day to an end by overcoming Canada’s Alicia Cote to reserve her women’s semi-final place.

…………In the women’s event, Canada’s Zhang Mo, the top seed, beat Lily Zhang of the United States, the no.5 seed (11-9, 8-11, 14-12, 11-8, 9-11, 10-12, 11-6) and thus reversed the decision of the 2017 final in Costa Rica.

…………Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi, the no.4 seed, overcame Mexico’s Yadira Silva, the no.9 seed (11-7, 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 5-11, 11-8) but for Gui Lin, also from Brazil, there was defeat. She was beaten by Wu Yue, the no.3 seed, from the United States (11-4, 12-10, 11-2, 11-8)

…………At the quarter-final stage of the men’s event, Brazil’s Gustavo Tsuboi, the no.2 seed, beat Canada’s Jeremy Hazin, the no.16 seed (11-8, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-5).

…………Kanak Jha of the United States, the no. 3 seed, performed the recovery of the day; he fought back from a three games to one deficit to beat Ecuador’s Alberto Miño, the no.6 seed (9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-6).

…………It was the end of the road in the men’s event for 16 year old Nikhil Kumar of the United States; the no.15 seed, he suffered at the hands of Paraguay’s Marcelo Aguirre, the no.4 seed.

…………At the semi-final stage of the men’s event, Hugo Calderano meets Marcelo Aguirre, Kanak Jha opposes Gustavo Tsuboi.

…………The semi-finals in the women’s event see Zhang Mo oppose Bruna Takahashi, Wu Yue face Adriana Diaz.

Universal 2019 Pan America Cup: Quotes of the day – Saturday 2nd February