20 Nov 2016

Titles secured earlier in the week in both the Men’s Team and Women’s Team events at the 2016 Chile Para Open Championships in Santiago; Argentina continued their run of success on the concluding day of action, Saturday 19th November.

Daniel Rodriguez and Elias Romero won Men's Team Class 1-5; Aleksy Kaniuka and Alejandro Perez secured the Men’s Team Class 6-8 title, whilst Dario Neira combined with the host nation’s Manuel Echaveguren to secure gold in Men’s Team Class 9-10.

by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Impressively, Daniel Rodriguez and Elias Romero secured gold by beating Chile’s Cristian Gonzalez and Alfonso Diaz by two matches to nil to secure top spot in a group organised event; Cristian Gonzalez and Alfonso Diaz duly finished in second place.

Likewise Dario Neira and Manuel Echaveguren clinched the top prize by recording two matches to nil results against the top seeded Chilean outfit of Alvaro Vega and Valentin Letelier, followed by a similar success when facing Gustavo Castro and Jaime Jara, also from Chile.

Defeat for Alvaro Vega and Valentin Letelier but it was their only defeat; they finished in runners up spot ahead of Brazil’s Claudio Massad and Ricardo Narusawa. Gustavo Castro and Jaime Jara ended matters in fourth position ahead of the combination formed by Chile’s Sebastian Torres and Nevielle Brabrook.

Comprehensive wins on the last day of play for Dario Neira and Manuel Echaveguren; for Aleksy Kaniuka and Alejandro Perez life was somewhat more treacherous.

A two-matches to nil victory was recorded at the semi-final stage against Chile’s Ruperto Morales and Juan Sepuldeva, before in the title deciding contest the Ecuadorian pairing of Paul Polo and David Vasquez extended the champions elect the full three match distance.

The player to cause the problems was Paul Polo, he beat Alejandro Perez (11-7, 11-13, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6) after the Argentine duo had clinched the doubles (11-7, 13-11, 11-8). Matters concluded with Aleksy Kaniuka overcoming David Vasquez (11-8, 11-7, 11-6) to secure the top prize.

In the counterpart semi-final, Paul Polo and David Vasquez had recorded a two-nil win against the Chilean combination of Matias Lorca and Osvaldo Torres.

Play concluded in Santiago, attention is now focused on Buenos Aires. The Copa Tango commences on Tuesday 22nd November with a two day junior tournament, followed by a three day senior event which starts on Friday 25th November.

Proceedings conclude on Sunday 27th November.

2016 Chile Para Open: Individual and Team Event Results

Paralympics Para Table Tennis Chile Para Open Alejandro Perez Manuel Echaveguren Dario Neira Aleksy Kaniuka