by Ian Marshall, Editor
At the semi-final stage both pairs ended Latin American hopes; Nikhil Kumar and Amy Wang beat Puerto Rico’s Daniel Gonzalez and Melanie Diaz (8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10), Zhang Kai and Lily Zhang halted the aspirations of Argentina’s Horacio Cifuentes and Camila Arguelles (14-12, 11-7, 12-10).
Meanwhile, in both the men’s singles and women’s singles events, the leading names made positive starts to their campaigns.
In the women’s singles, Canada’s Zhang Mo and Wu Yue of the United States, the respective top two seeds, were not called to action; the next in line, Lily Zhang, also from the United States and Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi were both summoned to order. Lily Zhang beat Mexico’s Clio Barcenas (11-5, 11-2, 11-6m, 12-10), Bruna Takahashi accounted for the host nation’s Melina Hermosilla (11-5, 11-5, 11-5, 11-8).
Imposing performances, it was the same in the opening round of the men’s singles competition. Kanak Jha of the United States, the top seed, accounted for Argentina’s Santiago Lorenzo (11-7, 11-9, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6); Brazil’s Gustavo Tsuboi, the no.2 seed, overcame Ecuador’s Diego Piguave. Likewise, Paraguay’s Marcelo Aguirre, the no.3 seed, beat Chile’s Manuel Moya (11-6, 11-8, 11-5, 11-6); Thiago Monteiro, the no.4 seed and like Gustavo Tsuboi from Brazil, emulated his colleague by causing Ecuador problems. He overcame Emiliano Riofrio (11-2, 11-3, 11-6, 13-15, 11-6).
The quarter-finalists known in the men’s singles and women’s singles events; in the men’s doubles and women’s doubles competitions the semi-finalists have been decided. Notably in each event, the top four pairs have advanced.
In the semi-final round of the men’s doubles event Brazil’s Eric Jouti and Gustavo Tsuboi, the top seeds, meet Chile’s Gustavo Gomez and Juan Lamadrid, the no.4 seeds; in the opposite half of the draw, Argentina’s Gaston Alto and Horacio Cifuentes confront Mexico’s Marcos Madrid and Ricardo Villa, the no.3 seeds.
Similarly, in the women’s doubles penultimate round, Wu Yue and Lily Zhang of the United States, the top seeds, face Puerto Rico’s Melanie Diaz and Daniely Rios, the no.4 seeds, Canada’s Joyce Xu and Zhang Mo draw swords with Chile’s Daniela Ortega and Paulina Vega, the no.3 seeds.
Play on Saturday 7th September focuses on the men’s singles and women’s singles events when matters will advance to the semi-final round; on Sunday 8th September the semi-finals and finals of the men’s doubles and women’s doubles events will be enacted.
