by Ian Marshall, Editor
Furthermore in class 10 it was gold and silver for Spain; Angel Garrido, Edgar Mataro and Andr Cepas secured runners up spot.
Mainstay of the 2-1 victory in the final was José Manuel Ruiz Reyes, winner of the men’s singles title in the same category one day earlier. He partnered Jorge Cardona to doubles success against Angel Garrido and Edgar Mataro (11-8, 9-11, 11-0, 11-4). Later he sealed the win by overcoming Andr Cepas (9-11, 11-4, 12-10, 11-5), after Edgar Mataro had beaten Marlon Lopez (11-4, 11-3, 11-7) to level matters.
The success recorded by José Manuel Ruiz Reyes, Jorge Cardona and Marlon Lopez was as expected, they commenced play as the top seeds, for Angel Garrido, Edgar Mataro and Andr Cepas life was somewhat different. They had finished the group stage ahead of the United States pairing comprising Tahl Leibovitz and Jerry Vasquez, before recording a 2-1 semi-final success in opposition to the combination of Italy’s Lorenzo Cordua and Alexandros Diakoumakis of Greece.
Somewhat similarly the top prize secured by Eduardo Cuesta and Oscar Ponce Romero was somewhat unexpected; they commenced play as the no.3 seeds. They finished ahead of Hong Kong’s top seeded formation of Tsoi Ming Fai and Yuen King Shing.
Success for the third seeds, in the men’s team events it was the same in class 6; also in a group arranged event, the pairing formed by Italy’s Matteo Parenzan and Korea Republic’s Lee Seho ended the day in first place; top seeds Ian Seidenfeld of the United States and Great Britain’s Martin Perry, had to settle for runners up spot.
Problems for the leading outfits, in class 8 it was very similar. Belgium’s Marc Ledoux and Samuel de Chiara, the favourites for gold had to settle for bronze; they suffered a 2-1 penultimate round defeat at the hands of Japan’s Hideo Tamai and Takumi Shukunobe. A semi-final win against the odds for the duo from the Land of the Rising Sun but there was no gold. In the final they suffered a 2-1 defeat when facing the Netherlands combination of Adrianus Van Amerongen and Devin Wassink.
Disappointment for Hideo Tamai and Takumi Shukunobe; not for compatriots Katsuyoshi Yagi and Masachika Inoue nor for Koyo Iwabuchi and Nobutuki Suzuki; both commenced play as the top seeds. Katsuyoshi Yagi and Masachika Inoue won class 7; Koyo Iwabuchi and Nobutuki Suzuki emerged the class 9 winners.
Play concluded in Girona, attention now turns to Jordan. The Para Al-Watani Championships commence in Amman on Monday 8th April and conclude on Wednesday 10th April.
2019 Para Costa Brava Open: Results
