08 Apr 2018

Success for the host country and repeated success; on the concluding day of play, Saturday 7th April, at the 2018 Caribbean Junior and Cadet Championships in Havana, René Mendez and Daniela Fonseca won the respective Junior Boys’ Singles and Junior Girls’ Singles title to bring the six day tournament to a conclusion.

Not only did they bring proceedings to a close, they completed a clean sweep for Cuba; all 14 events were won by the home nation.

by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager

At the final hurdle René Mendez beat the Dominican Republic’s Pedro Cabrera (11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 11-4, 11-6); Daniela Fonseca accounted for colleague Thalia de Armas (11-5, 11-4, 11-1, 11-6).

The win meant that René Mendez added to the Junior Boys’ Team title secured earlier in the week in harness with Eday Gomez, Marcos Sanchez and Ovidio Sanchez.

Two titles for René Mendez, for Eday Gomes the total was three. In addition to Junior Boys’ Team gold, he partnered Marcos Sanchez to Junior Boys’ Doubles victory and Daniela Fonseca to the top prize in the Junior Mixed Doubles event.

Likewise, there were three titles for Daniela Fonseca; additional to Junior Girls’ Singles and Junior Mixed Doubles success, she won Junior Girls’ Doubles gold in harness with Karla Perez. Notably, Daniela Fonseca did not appear in the Junior Girls’ Team competition; colleagues Karla Perez, Thalia de Armas, Roselis Perez and Leyla Rodriguez combined to secure the top prize.

Meanwhile, also on the concluding day of play, in all Cuban finals, Adrian Perez secured the Cadet Boys’ Singles title beating Andy Pupo in the final (11-3, 11-2, 1-11, 9-11, 11-4); Lety Gonzalez overcame Estela Crespo (10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8) to be crowned Cadet Girls’ Singles champion.

Success for Adrian Perez meant that he collected a total of three titles. Earlier in the proceedings he had allied with Raonel Labrador, Brian Mena and Andy Pupo to win the Cadet Boys’ Team event, before with Raonel Labrador been crowned Cadet Boys’ Doubles champion.

Similarly for Lety Gonzalez it was her third title; prior to the final day of action, she had lined up alongside Estela Crespo, Daniela Hidalgo and Rosalba Aguilar to secure Cadet Girls’ Team gold, before partnering Estela Crespo to Junior Girls’ Doubles success. Notably the Cadet Girls’ Team and Cadet Girls’ Doubles success meant three titles for Estela Crespo; partnering Raonel Labrador, she won the Cadet Mixed Doubles competition.

Overall eight national associations competed: Aruba, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago plus St Vincent and Grenadines.

2018 Caribbean Junior and Cadet Championships: Role of Honour and Full Results

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