by Ian Marshall, Editor
Success for Adriana Diaz and Zhang Mo means they have qualified to compete in the ITTF Women’s World Cup to be held later in the year in Chengdu, China; however, the Puerto Rican teenager kept the crowd on the very edges of their seats.

The match was very much a reflection of their most recent meeting, the women’s singles final at the 2017 Pan American Championships in Cartagena de Indias. On that occasion Adriana had also won in seven games, having earlier in tournament experienced a four games reverse against the American in the women’s team competition.

“Wu Yue is a super strong player, it was a tough match, I needed a lot of strength to get ahead; I couldn’t afford to play badly. I had to play as strongly as possible. I feel very happy, the feeling is incredible. Thank you very much everyone, it is a dream. I have played in the Olympic Games but this tournament is very special for me. I never thought that table tennis could bring all these people together. I hope everyone will come to watch the final.” Adriana Diaz

Hard fought from Adriana Diaz, earlier to start the day it had been clinical from Zhang Mo who maintained her ascendancy against Bruna Takahashi. In 2018 they had met at same stage of the Pan America Cup as well as at the Pan American Championships and on the Seamaster ITTF World Tour in Austria. On all three occasions Zhang Mo had prevailed.

“I’d played her last year but I didn’t feel that confident before the match; when we played in Austria it was four-three, very close. Today I was able to establish a good rhythm to my play, not play too fast and make sure I put the first ball on the table; certainly winning the first game gave me confidence.” Zhang Mo

The final and third place matches will played later in the day.