(by Steve Hopkins)
When they met in the Group Stage, Brazil dominated Chile 3-0. Brazil narrowly won the doubles, Eric Jouti won his singles match, and Carlos Ishida defeated Nicolas Burgos (Burgos went on to win the Singles title). But the rematch in the Team Final of the 2023 South American Championships went the distance with Brazil’s Eric Jouti making the difference.
Brazil repeated their doubles win, with Brazil’s Ishida and Teodoro narrowly winning 3-2 over Martinez and Gomez. In the battle of top players, Brazil’s Eric Jouti topped Nicolas Burgos in three straight, 14-12, 11-8, and 11-8. But even with Brazil jumping out to a commanding lead, the next two matches went to Chile. Gustavo Gomez won 3-2 over Singles Finalist Guilherme Teodoro, and Burgos defeated Ishida 3-2 as well. This set up a deciding fifth game, but it was Brazil’s best against Chile’s lowest ranked player, and the results were as expected – a 3-0 Jouti win over Andres Martinez. Brazil defends its team title – a talented and deep squad. And when on the World Stage, they’ll have Top 10 Ranked Hugo Calderano anchoring their team.
Earlier in the week, the Singles Title went to Nicolas Burgos who overcame the tournament’s second seed, Marcelo Aguirre in the Semifinals and then outlasted Brazil’s Guilherme Teodoro 4-3 in the Final. This is the second time that Burgos, a Butterfly player from Chile, has won the South American Championships. He also won in 2022, and just like last year, he was not favored – but saved his best performance for the biggest stage.
Burgos teamed with Gustavo Gomez in Doubles, advancing all the way to the Final before falling to Brazil’s Ishida and Turrini. Burgos is still alive in the Team event as well. Chile finished second to Brazil in the groups, but both advanced – likely on a path to face each other in the Final on Sunday.
In Women’s Singles, Brazil’s Giulia Takahashi sliced through the competition losing only one game in four matches. Chile managed to win titles in both Women’s Doubles (Vega and Ortega) and Mixed Doubles (Gomez and Ortega).
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