by Ian Marshall
On the opening day of play, in the second round of the men’s singles event, Jorge Campos had caused a major upset by beating Paraguay’s Marcelo Aguirre, the top seed (11-8, 11-5, 11-6, 11-7). A scintillating start but one day later it was agony, in the match to determine a Tokyo place he experienced defeat by the very narrowest of margins when facing Puerto Rico’s Brian Afanador (9-11, 11-4, 11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9).
Defeat by the minimal two point margin in the seventh game, in the second knock-out event, in the Tokyo deciding match, it was exactly the same! He was beaten by Ecuador’s Alberto Miño (11-2, 5-11, 6-11, 8-11, 11-8, 13-11, 12-10).
Efficiency
On the concluding day, the gremlins of sport were absent; it was third time lucky but there was no luck, it was simply a most efficient performance and against the odds.
The no.10 seeds, in their opening contest they accounted for Marcelo Aguirre and Paraguayan colleague, Leyla Gomez, the no.7 seeds (11-7, 11-4, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7), prior to ousting Brazil’s Vitor Ishiy and Bruna Takahashi, the no.2 seeds (11-6, 11-9, 11-7, 17-15) to reserve their place in the penultimate round.
Imposing performances, the policy continued; at the semi-final stage they accounted for Mexico’s Marcos Madrid and Yadira Silva, the no.5 seeds (12-10, 13-11, 5-11, 11-8, 12-10) to reserve a showdown against Chile’s Juan Lamadrid and Paulina Vega.
Surprise finalists
Similar to the Cubans, Juan Lamadrid and Paulina Vega, the no.5 seeds, were somewhat surprise finalists.
In their opening match they had beaten Colombia’s Alexander Echavarria and Paula Medina, the no.11 seeds (11-5, 11-4, 11-3, 11-3), before receiving a walk-over against Brian Afanador and Adriana Diaz, the top seeds. The Puerto Ricans decided to withdraw from the tournament following a positive Covid-19 test result for a fellow athlete who is now isolating in Rosario.
A semi-final place, the Chileans accounted for Argentina’s Horacio Cifuentes and Camila Arguelles, the no.3 seeds (11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 7-11, 16-14, 6-11, 11-8), prior to experiencing defeat at the hands of Jorge Campos and Daniela Fonseca Carrazana, after having held a two games nil lead (9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 14-12, 11-7).
Eventual success for Jorge Campos, more success for Daniela Fonseca Carrazana; the previous day she had secured Tokyo women’s singles qualification.
