BRAZILIANS MOUNT CHALLENGE FOR HONOURS IN BOYS' SINGLES EVENT
Por CBTM
Brazil’s Eric Mancini and Humberto Manhani, the top two seeds in the Boys’ Singles event at the South American Junior Championships in Cuenca, Ecuador, duly booked their places in the quarter-finals on Saturday 16th June 2007.
Eric Mancini experienced few problems but for Humberto Manhani he was tested to the full in the second round; against Colombia’s Jaime Valenciano he succeeded but only just. He won a close seven games duel.
Success for Brazil and also for the hosts, Ecuador; Alberto Miño, the number three seeds overcame his colleague Dino Suarez-Aviles in the second round to duly book his place in the last eight.
Quarter-final places for the top three seeds but problems for the fourth seed. He lost to Fernando Yamazoto in the group stage, a young man who had impressed in the Boys’ Team competition earlier in the week.
A right handed attacking player he overcame Bryan Blas in four games.
Known
“I knew Bryan Blas, I’d played him last year in Cancun, Mexico and won”, said Fernando Yamazoto. “I think I won three-two, it was close; he has a strong forehand, so I made sure I served short and concentrated my attacks on his backhand.”
Tactically, the Brazilian played well and mentally he was also strong. “I kept my focus”, he continued. “That meant I didn’t make too many unforced errors.”
No Quarter-Final Place
However, neither Bryan Blas nor Fernando Yamazoto progressed to the quarter-finals.
Bryan Blas progressed to the main draw where he lost in round one to Dino Suarez-Aviles whilst Fernando Yamazoto was beaten in round two by Chile’s Nicolas Labarca
Cadet Boys’ Singles
Meanwhile, in the Cadet Boys’ Singles, the top four seeded players all progressed without alarm.
Paraguay’s Marcelo Aguirre, Chile’s Felipe Olivares, Matias Contreras and Marcelo Fernandez all secured quarter-final positions, whilst for the host nation the young man to impress was John Cabrera. He beat both Colombia’s Santiago Atehortua and Peru’s Nicola Strobach to emerge in top place in his group.
The competition concludes on Sunday 17th June 2007 with the finals of the singles events.
Ian Marshall - ITTF
