by Simon Daish
Considered amongst the favourites in the second knock-out tournament, no.3 seed Arguelles was dealt a decisive loss by an unlikely source in Cuba’s Idalys Lovet, a player seeded 12 positions lower. Impressive from start to finish, Lovet emerged victorious in all four games (11-9, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9), chalking up one of the upsets of the tournament in the process.
Monica Munoz was the next player of note to fall with the Mexican no.6 seed unable to halt Colombia’s Paula Medina, seeded ninth. There will be an element of frustration for Munoz who twice led in the match, but she couldn’t quite kill off the contest leaving room for Medina to capitalise (7-11, 11-3, 7-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-4).
The Dominican Republic enjoyed a fine session with Eva Brito and Esmerlyn Castro both advancing to the quarter-finals: fifth seed Brito displayed fine resolve, fighting back from a game down to eliminate Paraguayan Lucero Ovelar from the race (4-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-9, 4-11, 11-4), while Castro, seeded at no.12, condemned Argentina’s Candela Molero to the same fate (11-5, 11-7, 10-12, 11-8, 11-5).
The session also played host to two notable escapes. Daniela Ortega came mightily close to an unthinkable Round of 16 elimination only for the Chilean to mount a fine recovery against Guatemala’s Lucia Cordero (8-11, 1-11, 11-9, 7-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-9). Likewise, Cuba’s Daniela Fonseca Carrazana turned in a memorable performance with another comeback win in Rosario, this time at the expense of Venezuela’s Neridee Nino (5-11, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4).
Guatemalan no.4 seed Mabelyn Enriquez succeeded where compatriot Cordero fell short, claiming her passage to the last eight with victory over Guyana’s Chelsea Edghill (11-8, 2-11, 11-8, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8), and Mexican top seed Yadira Silva also progresses following her successful outing against Ecuador’s Nathaly Paredes (11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 11-2, 11-9).
The conclusion of the women’s singles event is scheduled for Friday 16th April with one ticket to Tokyo up for grabs.
