by Ian Marshall, Editor
Peru’s Carlos Fernandez, the top seed,reserved his semi-final cadet boys’ singles place by beating Brazil’s Luigi Yaname (12-10, 11-8, 11-6), the surprise winner at the immediately preceding South American Junior and Cadet Championships.
One Brazilian beaten, he now faces another in the guise of Shim Joon, the no.7 seed; the surprise quarter-final winner in opposition to Ecuador’s Diego Piguave, the no.4 seed (11-7, 11-5, 11-5).
Brazil prominent in the top half of the draw, the nation is event more prominent in the lower half; Henrique Noguti, the no.2 seed meets surprise semi-finalist, Gustavo Gertsmann. No current under 15 boys’ world ranking, Gustavo Gertsmann caused a quarter-final upset by beating Argentina’s Franco Spinelli, the no.8 seed (11-9, 11-9, 4-11, 11-5).
Similarly in the cadet girls’ singles event, Brazil was very much to the fore, Giulia Takahashi and Laura Watanabe, the respective top two seeds, duly reserved last four places as expected, their opponents somewhat the reverse scenario.
Chile’s Josefina Lara, the no.7 seed, who faces Giulia Takahashi, accounted for Peru’s Maria Maldonado, the no.3 seed (9-11, 11-8, 13-15, 12-10, 11-8), prior ousting Ecuador’s Maria Borja, the no.13 seed (11-6, 11-8, 12-10) to reserve her place in the penultimate round.
A surprise semi-final opponent for Giulia Takahashi, the adversary for Laura Watanabe is an even greater surprise; no current world ranking; Peru’s Delia Soria beat Argentina’s Guillermina Rios (11-7, 11-8, 11-8) and Peru’s Alejandra Prieto (8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 6-11, 13-11) to gain progress.
Semi-finalists known in the cadet boys’ singles and cadet girls’ singles events; in the cadet boys’ doubles and cadet girls’ doubles, the finalists are known. In the former an all- Brazilian affair sees Henrique Noguti and Shim Joon, the top seeds, face Gustavo Gertsmann and Luigi Yamane, the no.10 seeds, the first round winners in opposition to the combination of Canada’s Max Ji and Aziz Zarehbin, the United States, the no.2 seeds (4-11, 11-9, 11-7, 12-10).
Meanwhile, in the latter, Giulia Takahashi and Laura Watanabe, the top seeds, oppose Peru’s Ana Aragon and Maria Maldonado, the no.2 seeds.
Play concludes at the 2019 Chile Junior and Cadet Open on Sunday 24th March.
