by Ian Marshall, Editor

Supported by Andres Martinez and Jorge Paredes, he leads Chile in the boys’ team event, before later in the tournament combing with Andres Martinez in the boys’ doubles competition and starting as favourite for boys’ singles gold.

In all three events he is the top seed; next in line in the junior boys’ team event, which starts proceedings, is the Argentine combination of Santiago Lorenzo and Matias Velarde followed by Canada’s David Xu and Alexander Bu. Brazil’s Rafael Torino and Diogo Silva complete the top four seeded outfits.

Leading names in the junior boys’ team event, it is the same in the junior boys’ doubles; in the very same order and with the very same partners they form the leading pairs.

Meanwhile, in the junior boys’ singles competition, Santiago Lorenzo is the no.2 seed, pursued by Andres Martinez, Rafael Torino, Alexander Bu and Jorge Paredes. Peru’s Felipe Duffoo and Adolfo Cucho complete the top eight names.

Challengers for honours but on the ITTF World Junior Circuit, none can match Nicolas Burgos; in addition to being a semi-finalist at last year’s 2018 ITTF Pan American Junior Championships in Santo Domingo, he reached the semi-final stage in Spain. The best for his major rivals is a quarter-final finish, the round which last year Santiago Lorenzo reached in Paraguay, Rafael Torino in Slovakia and Alexander Bu in El Salvador.

Meanwhile, just as in the junior boys’ singles event, Nicolas Burgos is seeking back-to-back titles, so is Brazil’s Luigi Yamane in the cadet boys’ singles competition, the surprise winner at the 2019 South American Junior and Cadet Championships, he is the no.16 seed. Top seed is Peru’s Carlos Fernandez, followed by Brazil’s Henrique Noguti, Argentina’s Tomas Sanchi and Ecuador’s Diego Piguave.

The team events commence matters, the individual events begin on Friday 22nd March.