A Marriage Made in El Salvador: Junior Mixed Doubles
June 16, 2008

Estefania Ramirios and Josué Donado Photo By: Guillermo Coydan

Courtesy of ITTF It was a marriage made in El Salvador as Josué Donado and Estefania Ramirios retained their Junior Mixed Doubles title at the Latin American Junior Championships on Sunday June 15, 2008. At the final hurdle they beat the host nation’s Juan Restrepo and Aura Campo in a thrilling five games duel, a contest in which they trailed 8-9 in the decider before securing success.

The duo both from the capital city, San Salvador, won 6-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7, 11-9.

High Level
“This year it was really hard”, said Josué Donado. “From the very first match we had really tough opponents.”

A fair comment and one which reflects the growing strength of table tennis in Latin America.

In the opening round they beat Paraguay’s Axel Gavilan and Lucero Ovelar, in round two Chile’s Matias Contreras and Karen Rojas, in the quarters Colombia’s Edwin Mena and Laura Molina to book a place in the semis where they overcame Brazil’s Danilo Toma and Amanda Marques.

Togetherness
Tough matches but the El Salvadorians were in harmony.

“When we play I think of our partnership as a marriage”, said Josué Donado, one of the most sincere young men you could wish to meet. “In a marriage you work together and you look after your wife, that’s how our doubles partnership works.”

Very honest thinking, Josué Donado looked after his “wife” and together they lived “happily ever after”.

Cadet Mixed Doubles
Meanwhile, Chile’s Manuel Moya and Judith Morales captured the Cadet Mixed Doubles title beating Mexico’s Alberto Romo and Ileana Sanguino in round one followed by a second round success against Peru’s Julio Li Davelois and Maria Soto to book their place in the quarter-finals where they accounted for Brazil’s Nicola Santos and Karina Hayama.

Victory
A place in the semi-finals assured, they overcame Colombia’s Joaquim Villegas and Daniela Castillo before securing gold with a four games victory over their colleagues Gustavo Gomez and Cristal Meneses.

They succeeded at the final hurdle 10-12, 11-9, 16-14, 11-9.

At the quarter-final stage, the eventual silver medalists had beaten the Dominican Republic’s David Vila and Eva Brito before overcoming Brazil’s Jeff Yamada and Katia Kawai in the semis.