by Ian Marshall, Editor

In the junior boys’ singles, colleague Adolfo Cucho is the next in line to Carlos Fernandez  followed by Brazil’s Kenzo Carmo and Chile’s Matias Pedraza; all are exempt from the group first stage of proceedings, all remaining names must compete in the initial phase.

Notably, at the South American Junior and Cadet Championships Kenzo Carmo emerged the junior boys’ singles runner up; last year on the 2019 ITTF World Junior Circuit he impressed in Slovenia; he reached the quarter-finals. However, arguably more impressive was Matias Pedraza, he was the runner in El Salvador.

All compete in first stage

Meanwhile, in the girls’ singles, an event in which all compete in the group stage, next in line to Laura Watanabe are colleagues Giulia Takahashi and Livia Lima ahead of Chile’s Jerusalen Flores. At the South American Junior and Cadet Championships, Giulia Takahashi completed a clean sweep of titles in the cadet age group; Laura Watanabe was the junior girls’ singles runner up, Livia Lima a semi-finalist.

Notably, Giulia Takahashi is the top seed in the cadet girls’ singles, next in order is Chile’s Fernanda Araneda. In the counterpart cadet boys’ singles event, Ecuador’s Diego Piguave and Jeremy Cedeño are the respective top two seeds.

Last week at the continental tournament, Jeremy Cedeño was the cadet boys’ singles runner up, he was beaten in the final by Brazil’s Leonardo Ilzuka. At the World Junior Circuit tournament, the Brazilian is the no.9 seed.

Team events

The individual events very much in focus but it is the team competitions which commence matters.

Carlos Fernandez and Adolfo Cucho form the top seed pair in the junior boys’ team competition; Argentina who select from Matias Guadalupe, Matias Velarde and Andres Villalba occupy the no.2 seeded position. In the junior girls’ team competition, Brazil’s Giulia Takahashi, Livia Lima and Laura Watanabe head the list, next in the order is the Chilean trio of Macarena Montecino, Jerusalen Flores and Sofia Vega.

Second seeded spot for Chile, in the cadet girls’ team event they occupy the top two spots. Fernanda Araneda and Constanza Mesas head the order, Sofia Perez and Romina Barrientos follow. Top spot for Chile, in the cadet boys’ team competition, Ecuador’s Diego Piguave and Jeremy Cedeño occupy first place ahead of Peru’s Juan Luna, Rodrigo Viga and Luciano Noriega.

Play in Lima concludes on Saturday 14th March.