by Ian Marshall, Editor
Closest call was that experienced by Puerto Rico, the no.2 seeds when facing Ecuador, a three-two result was the order of the day. However, in reality, after Mileysha Sanchez had beaten Viviam Ruiz in the second match of the contest (11-6, 11-5, 11-6) to give Puerto Rico a two-nil lead, the writing was on the wall.
Adriana Diaz, somewhat a step ahead, had given the Caribbean island the perfect start by overcoming Nathaly Paredes; in the concluding match of the fixture she secured victory by defeating Viviam Ruiz (11-6, 11-5, 11-6). The wins for Ecuador were recorded in the third and fourth matches of the contest when Emely Quinllin beat Kassandra Maldonado (12-10, 11-3, 11-4) and Nathaly Paredes accounted for Mileysha Sanchez (11-2, 7-11, 11-8, 11-5).
Otherwise, matters were settled without the need for a deciding fifth match.
Top seeds, the United States represented by Rachel Sung, Crystal Wang and Rachel Yang showed no charity when facing Paraguay’s Leyla Gomez, Cielo Mutti and Karimi Apud; a three-nil win was posted.
Meanwhile, for Brazil and Canada, the respective third and fourth seeds, it was victory by three matches to one.
Represented by Livia Lima, Bruna Takahashi and Tamyres Fukase, Brazil accounted for the host nation trio comprising Esmerlyn Castro, Dahyana Rojas and Rosa Torres; in a similar manner Canada with Ivy Liao, Joyce Xu and Isabelle Xiong in action ended the hopes of Guatemala’s Hidalyn Zapata, Lucia Cordero and Mercedes Mendizabal.
At the semi-final stage the United States meets Brazil, Canada opposes Puerto Rico; the fixtures will be conducted later in the evening.
