Cuba stands as the strongest candidate to prevail in the Caribbean Table Tennis Tournament, there is no doubt about that. Especially when the main figures of Puerto Rico in both sexes, we refer to the Adriana sisters (11th in the world ranking with 2,914 points), and Melanie Díaz (67-1,023); and Brian Afanador (65-1,057) declined to participate in the contest.
Given the absences of the main Puerto Rican cards, the best ranked in the Pabexpo synthetic carpet are for the females the also Puerto Rican Daniely Ríos (184-421); and the Dominican Eva Brito (200-361), the latter a regular contender in our country, where she has achieved excellent results.
They lead precisely two of the female groups facing the individual fight in which our two best cards will also fight hard: Daniela Fonseca (262-237), and Idalys Lovet (257-247), who combined joint efforts together with Lizdainet Rodríguez and Karla Pérez to win 3-1 and 3-0 over the Dominicans and the Barbadians, and places them in a very advantageous position to dominate group two of the women’s team tournament, which is completed by Jamaica, a cast that will compete with the girls from home this Friday.
Daniela, at 19 years old, compiles 57 smiles and 26 setbacks in her service record before starting the Caribbean contest, which gives her an efficiency of 69% success; while Idalys, much more seasoned with 24 years, plays for a 158-104, which gives her a balance of 60% favorable.
Cuba comes out as the favorite to prevail in that duel, and if they achieve the first place in the key they would presumably face Trinidad and Tobago in the semifinals, called to finish second in the other section.
In the case of men, it is also Puerto Rican Daniel González (121-685), the best positioned in the ranking of the world among the tennis players in competition. Meanwhile, for the Greater Antilles, in the absence of Andy Pereira (232-354), it is the two-time Olympian Jorge Moisés Campos (278-272), the main reference racket in hand, seconded by Liván Martínez (508-109 ).
Moisés, for example, at 30 years old and defined as an attack player, accumulates a balance of 161 wins and 100 setbacks in 261 games played according to his service record, which gives him an effectiveness of 62%. Meanwhile Liván, 24 years old, exhibits in 296 a record of 205-91, for a 69% success rate.
Added to them are the novices Eday Gómez, and Adrián Pérez, with commendable performances at the I Junior Pan American Games in Cali-Valle and who also earned bronze medals in the Mexican Table Tennis League, based in Mérida, and where by dint of auctions they were dressed in bronze by groups. René Méndez closes the navy.
They also started the team fight on the right foot, by disposing of an easy 3-0, without noticeable wear and tear on Barbados and Guyana; and that very outcome should presumably throw up their pairing with Haiti, by all accounts the weaker team, and the victim of the Guyanese and Barbadians in the opening.
The expedited road to the semifinals would presumably put them in the middle with the Quisqueyans, who succumbed 1-3 to those from Isla del Encanto. If that route materializes, Cubans and Puerto Ricans would dispute the final of the selection event.
Observations:
Once a predictive line has been drawn, in individuals, ours must also advance as leaders of their groups, as part of a contest that will grant quotas for the Pan-American of the discipline, to be held in Santiago de Chile next October. Hence the importance of climbing to the award podium for our racket players.
To do this, they will have to overcome some opponents who surpass them in experience on the World Tour circuits, hence they exhibit better positions in the ranking; Well, regardless of the fact that Moisés and Liván have increased their competitive experience by venturing into foreign leagues such as the Italian one, they still do not have that volume of participation in the most demanding global circuit calendar.
Nor Daniela and Idalys, who are also inserted in Germany and Italy, respectively. This means that the true competitive level of a player is not always in line with his location and score on the universal ladder. For example, in my humble opinion, ours have a higher guarantee than their locations grant them.
An issue that also affects the initial organization charts of the competitions with a higher quality guarantee than those that are registered. The Cuban Table Tennis Federation in this sense has been promoting the insertion of our players in clubs, through different channels, fundamentally letters of intent and agreements between Federations, which translates into training and other growth opportunities for the players who short-lived National League does not grant them.
The condemnation of Russia is still fashionable
In keeping with a global, or rather Western, tendency to sanction Russia in every sphere of life that exists in retaliation for the special military operation deployed in Ukraine, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) followed the position assumed by the International Olympic Committee, the Paralympic Committee, and other sports institutions, denying the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in their events. The document issued by (ITTF) reads as follows:
The ITTF Executive Committee met on March 1, 2022, after consultation with the sporting community, and made the decision to follow the recommendations made by the IOC Executive Board with immediate effect.
Therefore, until further notice, no Russian or Belarusian players and officials will be invited or allowed at events organized by the ITTF Group, and no Russian or Belarusian symbols, colours, flags or national anthems will be displayed. Please note that there are currently no ITTF Group events scheduled in Russia or Belarus.
The ITTF Athletes Commission also expressed its deep concern and sympathy and fully supports these decisions.
The ITTF Group will continue to monitor the situation and review its decision in light of future developments.
Back to the Caribbean auctions at Pabexpo, Cuba with credentials to get a good part of the seven titles in dispute. The tables and the rackets have the floor.
