(by Steve Hopkins)
The WTT Youth Contender Series visited Buenos Aires this week, bringing rising stars from the Western Hemisphere as well as a few top ranked youth players from Korea, Spain, and Slovakia. For American fans, there was solid results from TeamUSA in Girls U17, Boys U15 and Mixed Doubles, Puerto Rico in U19 Boys and Mixed Doubles, U15 Boys and Mixed Doubles, U13 Boys, and U13 Girls.
In the U19 Boys Singles event, top seed Choi Jiwook (KOR) lost to Felipe Doti (BRA) 3-1. Puerto Rico’s Enrique Rios fell to Doti in the Semifinals. In U19 Girls, it was an all-Korean Final with Heo Yerim topping Kim Eunseo 3-2. U19 Mixed Doubles went to the Korean team of Kim Eunseo and Choi Jiwook. Three Puerto Rican players made it to the Semis in the event with Jerall Montijo and Valentina Davila losing in one Semi, and Edmarie Leon teaming up with Brazil’s Lucas Romanski in the other.
Korea’s Kim Jihu won the U17 Boys Singles event over Lucas Romanski – and Puerto Rico’s Enrique Rios finished third. In U17 Girls Singles, an All-Korean Final saw Kim Eunseo defeated Heo Yerim with USA’s Tashiya Piyadasa securing third.
USA’s Kef Noorani won U15 Boys Singles over Vitor Thiofilo of Brazil. Two Puerto Rican players were semifinalists – Matthew Cao and Sergio Perez. U15 Girls Singles went to Barbora Guassardo. U15 Mixed Doubles went to TeamUSA’s Kef Noorani and Tashiya Piyadasa who beat Paola Zerpa (VEN) and Sergio Perez (PR).
Puerto Rico had three of the final four in the U13 Boys Singles event, but Argentina’s Bruno Di Girolamo managed to win the event (with Angel Melendez finishing second, and Owen Shemesh and Jose Rivera finishing third). In U13 Girls Singles, Chile’s Barbora Guassardo defeated Briana Rodriguez of Puerto Rico 3-1.
WTT’s site describes WTT Contender Series events as a “pathway for young table tennis players to gain experience and compete internationally”. This week’s event in Argentina was a great stage for promising young players – an opportunity that was grabbed by a number of strong American and Puerto Rican players.
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