by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Second place finished in the hands of El Salvador who throughout the whole event fielded the trio comprising Emme Arias, Estefania Ramirios and Wang de Yang; Costa Rica who selected from Angie Araya, Nicole Granados, Paola Maroto and Fiorella Vallecillo finished concluded proceedings in third place.
A comfortable road to victory for Andrea Estrada, Mabelyn Enriquez, Andrea Montufar and Lucia Cordero; for their male counterparts life was much more testing.
Selecting Hector Gatica, Heber Moscoso and Allan Guttierez a three-nil semi-final win was recorded against El Salvador’s Oscar Villalta, Diego Orantes and Julio Calderon. One round later in the final with Kevin Montufar replacing Allan Guttierez, it was a much different story. A recovery of major proportions proved necessary.
Jacobo Vahnish gave Panama the ideal start by beating Heber Moscoso (10-12, 11-4, 11-6, 11-9), before Omer Avi-Tal accounted for Hector Gatica in a tense full distance five games duel (115, 9-11, 11-9, 7-11, 14-12) to double the lead.
It was at that stage the Guatemalan revival began. Kevin Montufar and Heber Moscoso joined forces to win the doubles in opposition to Justo Altamiranda and Omer Avi-Tal by the very narrowest of decisions (11-2, 6-11, 12-10, 9-11, 14-12), a contest which turned the tide. Kevin Montufar overcame Jacobo Vahnish (11-9, 11-4, 11-5), before Hector Gatica defeated Justo Altamiranda to complete the recovery (11-14, 13-11, 11-7).
A three-two defeat for Panama, one round earlier it has been a three-two success when facing Costa Rica. Mainstay of the victory had been Omer Avi-Tal. He beat Alfredo Sanchez in the second match of the fixture (11-7, 14-16, 14-12, 11-9), before teaming with Justo Altamiranda to secure the doubles against Daniel Araya and Alfredo Sanchez (11-6, 12-10, 11-4). The one further win for Panama was secured in the concluding match of the fixture when Jacobo Vahnish beat Daniel Araya (11-3, 11-8, 11-5).
Play in the Men’s Team and Women’s Team events concluded, attention now turns to the individual competitions; play concludes on Sunday 17th December.
Entries
2017 Central American Games: List of Entries
2017 Central American Games: List of National Associations
Team Events
2017 Central American Games: Men’s Team & Women’s Team – Seeding
2017 Central American Games: Men’s Team – Full Results (Thursday 14th December)
2017 Central American Games: Women’s Team – Full Results (Thursday 14th December)
Men’s Singles & Women’s Singles
2017 Central American Games: Men’s Singles – Seeding
2017 Central American Games: Men’s Singles – First Stage (Thursday 14th December)
2017 Central American Games: Women’s Singles – Seeding
2017 Central American Games: Women’s Singles – Stage One (Thursday 14th December)
Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles & Mixed Doubles
2017 Central American Games: Men’s Doubles – Main Draw (Thursday 14th December)
2017 Central American Games: Women’s Doubles – Main Draw (Thursday 14th December)
2017 Central American Games: Mixed Doubles – Main Draw (Thursday 14th December)