by Ian Marshall

Notably, Mexico departed the most successful nation on duty; the previous day Juan Jesus Gomez and Arantxa Cossio had secured the mixed doubles title accounting for colleagues Dario Arce and Clio Barcenas in the final (11-8, 6-11, 11-5, 11-8).

Moreover, on the concluding day of play, they proved more than worthy opponents for Indian opposition, a nation enjoying halcyon days, enjoying outstanding success at recent World Table Tennis tournaments.

In the men’s singles event, at the semi-final stage Dario Arce stretched Manush Utpalbhai Shah to the limit (11-6, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-13, 11-3), before in the final Juan Jesus Gomez extended the champion elect to five games (11-7, 11-9, 11-13, 11-7, 11-9).

Perhaps it was just one match too far for Juan Jesus Gomez, his only defeat in the whole tournament.

Earlier in the day he had prevailed in a titanic seven games duel against Ecuador’s Rodrigo Tapia (7-11, 14-12, 8-11, 11-8, 6-11, 13-11, 11-9), prior to partnering Dario Arce success in men’s doubles final when facing Manush Utpalbhai Shah and compatriot Sanil Shetty (11-7, 4-11, 3-11, 11-9, 11-8).

Similar experience

Meanwhile, for Clio Barcenas it was a somewhat similar experience when confronting Indian opposition.

She was beaten by Ankita Das at the semi-final stage of the women’s singles event (13-11, 11-2, 11-6, 13-11), before later in the day combining with Arantxa Cossio to overcome Ankita Das and Reeth Tennison to claim women’s singles gold (11-4, 6-11, 11-7, 15-13).

Finalists

Success against Ankita Das and Reeth Tennison was no mean feat; they emerged the women’s singles finalists.

At the semi-final stage Reeth Tennison ended the hopes of the host nation’s Nathaly Paredes (11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 11-4), prior to overcoming her colleague to seal the top prize (6-11, 11-4, 11-6, 16-18, 11-1, 11-6).

• Saturday 6th November – Results: Men’s Singles
• Saturday 6th November – Results: Women’s Singles
• Saturday 6th November – Results: Men’s Doubles
• Saturday 6th November – Results: Women’s Doubles
• Friday 5th November – Results: Mixed Doubles

Focus on Lima

Eyes in the continent now turn towards the Peruvian capital of Lima.

The seven day ITTF Pan American Championships commence on Saturday 13th November; a tournament with a special significance, six men’s teams and six women’s teams will qualify for the 2022 World Team Championships in Chengdu.