by Ian Marshall

Both teams impressed throughout the three days of action, especially the girls; at the final hurdle they maintained their unblemished record of 3-0 wins in every fixture encountered.

Facing Canada in the final, as in previous contests there was no hint of charity.

Sally Moyland gave the champions elect the perfect start by beating Crystal Liu (11-3, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4), she was followed by Sarah Jalli who accounted for Fu Ching Nam (11-6, 11-5, 11-9) to set the scene for Emily Tan to secure the victory.

She duly obliged, she overcame Jessie Xu in four games (11-8, 11-3, 9-11, 11-4).

Defeat for Canada but they could be pleased with their efforts, they commenced play the no.9 seeds.

Similarly in the boys’ final, though challenged by a determined Dominican Republic outfit, a most comprehensive performance secured gold.

Nandan Naresh beat Ramon Vila (8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-5) to set the tone for the contest; Daniel Tran doubled the advantage by overcoming Rafael Cabrera (7-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8), before Jensen Feng prevailed in opposition to Eduardo Darley (12-10, 4-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-9) to seal the victory.

Success for the United States and somewhat déjà vu; on the opening day of play in the group stage, the teams had met, the same players had confronted each other, the same 3-0 margin of victory had been the outcome.

Beaten twice by the top seeds, nevertheless, like Canada in the girls’ event, the Dominican Republic trio could reflect on their efforts with pride; they started play the no.10 seeds.

Notably for the United States, Daniel Tran remained unbeaten throughout the whole event.

Attention now turns to the individual events; play concludes in Santo Domingo on Saturday 18th September.