Unbeaten records were maintained but for Puerto Rico, the top seeds in the women’s event, who as the previous day, started the action, there were anxious moments. Adriana Diaz, Melanie Diaz and Daniely Rios found the no.3 seeds, the Chilean outfit comprising Daniela Ortega, Valentina Rios and Paulina Vega in determined mood. A 3-2 victory margin was the end result in favour of the Caribbean island.

Daniela Ortega and Paulina Vega gave their team the ideal start by beating Melanie Diaz and Daniely Rios (11-8, 8-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-6), before Adriana Diaz levelled matters by overcoming Valentina Rios (11-8, 11-6, 4-11, 11-4). Parity, once again Chile took the lead, Daniela Ortega accounted for Daniely Rios (11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9). The point of no return, Adriana Diaz responded to beat Paulina Vega (11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 11-8), prior to Melanie Diaz prevailing in opposition to Valentina Rios (11-7, 11-7, 11-7) to seal the victory.

“The match against Brazil is going to be a like a war, it will be the most important match of all. We are focused on classification. I’m very happy to have won all my matches so far, I’m going to prepare thoroughly for tomorrow and correct any mistakes.” Adriana Diaz

“Chile has a very strong team. They have very experienced players; we knew it would be a tough match, we were prepared for a battle and it was a battle. In the doubles they played much better than us, they were more together. We will give everything against Brazil; this year we have faced each other twice with a victory for each team. It will definitely feel like a final for us and we hope to achieve the goal.” Melanie Diaz

“From the beginning we were quite focused, I didn’t get the results I wanted but my teammates did very well and we managed to win. Lima is one of our favourite countries, here we won the gold medal in the Lima 2019 Pan American Games. If we classify for Tokyo it will be like we have a special tattoo or something that is related to this beautiful country. The match against Brazil is going to be a final. They have a very strong team. We will do our best.” Daniely Rios

“We fought for every point against the current Pan American Games champions. It was a nice experience to face Adriana again after so many years. I felt comfortable, we have been making changes within the team and sometimes it takes a while to get used to it. We are hopeful that at some point we will gain qualification because we have a great team with clear objectives; I think South American table tennis has improved a lot. Now many players from this region play in Europe.” Paulina Vega

Life less exacting

Tense moments for Puerto Rico, life was less fraught for the Brazilian combination of Caroline Kumahara, Bruna Takahashi and Jessica Yamada. The no.2 seeds, they posted a 3-0 win in opposition to the no.4 seeds, Peru’s Ana Aragon, Lucciana Cisneros and Mariagrazia La Torre.

Caroline Kumahara and Jessica Yamada commenced matters by beating Ana Aragon and Mariagrazia La Torre (11-8, 11-5, 13-11), Bruna Takahashi overcame Lucciana Cisneros (11-2, 11-8, 11-4) to set the scene for Jessica Yamada. She duly completed proceedings by overcoming Ana Aragon (11-1, 11-6, 11-5).

On the opening day of play Puerto Rico had recorded a 3-0 against Peru, by the same margin Brazil had overcome Chile.

Similar success for men’s team

Success for Caroline Kumahara, Bruna Takahashi and Jessica Yamada was soon followed by success by the same margin for their male counterparts. The trio comprising Hugo Calderano, Vitor Ishiy and Gustavo Tsuboi, the top seeds, showed no hint of charity when facing the no.3 seeds, Chile’s Nicolas Burgs, Gustavo Gomez and Juan Lamadrid.

Vitor Ishiy and Gustavo Gomez secured the doubles at the expense of the spirited combination of Nicolas Burgos and Gustavo Gomez (11-9, 10-12, 9-11, 11-4, 11-8), before Hugo Calderano overcame Juan Lamadrid (11-7, 11-8, 11-4) and Gustavo Tsuboi prevailed against Gustavo Gomez to end matters (11-3, 12-10, 11-6).

Totally focused

Similarly, the no.2 seeds, Argentina’s Gaston Alto, Horacio Cifuentes and Pablo Tabachnik were totally focused when facing Peru’s Adolpho Cucho, Felipe Duffoo and Rodrigo Hidalgo.

Gaston Alto and Horacio Cifuentes commenced proceedings in style beating Adolfo Cucho and Felipe Duffoo (11-6, 11-3, 11-4), prior to Pablo Tabachnik overcoming Rodrigo Hidalgo (11-7, 6-11, 13-11, 11-9) and Horacio Cifuentes accounting for Felipe Duffoo (11-5, 11-7, 11-4).

The draw

Decision day and one wonders could the draw play a major factor in the outcome. Usually, in the Olympic system coaches play their best players in the two singles matches. Draw A,B,C that player competes in the second and fourth matches; if the lot is X,Y,Z the player in question competes in the second and fifth matches.

It could well happen the arguable “best player” only plays once if proceedings do not go your way; that is exactly what happened to Brazil at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games when they faced the United States at the men’s team semi-final stage. They drew X,Y,Z, they lost 3-1, Hugo Calderano was the one winner but he only played once.

In the men’s team event, Brazil will no doubt want Hugo Calderano to play second and fourth, the so-called “quick ones”; the same may well apply to Argentina in the guise of Horacio Cifuentes. Most certainly it will be the scenario in the women’s fixture, Brazil will want Bruna Takahashi to play second and fourth, so will Puerto Rico in the guise of Adriana Diaz.

For one team in each deciding fixture, the hope will come true but for only one; the draw may will have a major effect.