Unbeaten throughout, 28 year old Ligia Silva was the backbone of success for Brazil as they regained the Women’s Team crown at the Latin American Championships in the city of Cancun on Tuesday 2nd March 2010.

Alongside 20 year old Jessica Yamada and 22 year old Karin Sako, Brazil beat defending champions Chile at the final hurdle by three matches to one.

The success ended a two year drought; the last occasion that they had won the title was in 2007 in Guarulhos the town which is the home for São Paulo’s international airport.

Three Years Earlier
On that occasion the line up of Ligia Silva, Carina Murashige and Mariany Nonaka defeated Venezuela to capture the top prize; both Karin Sako and Jessica Yamada were present in Guarulhos on that occasion but only played in the individual events.

Three years later they were on duty in what was an impressive performance by the Brazilian outfit; at no stage were they stretched the full five matches distance.

Intentions Clear
From the very start the Brazilians made their intentions perfectly clear.

In the group stage, with Livia Fontana preferred to Karin Sako, they beat the Peruvian trio of Melissa Vargas, Angela Mori and Nadia Quiñonez by three matches to nil; before, with Karin Sako replacing Livia Fontana, they handed out the same punishment to Argentina (Augustina Iwasa, Ana Codina, Paula Fukuhara).

Quarter-final Success
A place in the quarter-finals duly reserved, they overcame Puerto Rico by three matches to one; a contest in which the Caribbean country made the better start.

Lyanne Aponte, the reigning Latin American Junior Girls’ Singles champion, overcame Karin Sako but that was to be the sole Puerto Rican success.

Ligia Silva levelled matters by beating Jerica Marrero, before combining to win the doubles against Carelyn Cordero and Jerica Marrero. Jessica Yamada duly brought matters to an end by overcoming Lyanne Aponte.

Venezuela Defeated
A semi-final place assured, fielding the same trio, the Brazilians defeated the Venezuelan outfit of Fabiola Ramos, Maria Mata and Ruaida Ezzeddine to reserve their place in the final where Chile presented the opposition.

Once again, Ligia Silva was in fine form. She opened proceedings by beating Berta Rodriguez in three straight games before Maria Paulina Vega levelled by overcoming Jessica Yamada by the very narrowest of margins in the fifth and deciding game.

However, Brazil recaptured the lead with Karin Sako and Ligia Silva joining forces to defeat Blanca Duran and Maria Paulina Vega to pave the way for Karin Sako to bring glory to Brazil.

She duly obliged; in four games she defeat Berta Rodriguez.

Never Seriously Threatened
A comparatively smooth passage to the Women’s Team final for Brazil and it was the same for Chile; they were never stretched the full five match distance.

In the opening contest, with Berta Rodriguez, Balanca Duran and Natalia Castellano on duty, they overcame the Honduras trio of Iizzwa Medina, Andrea Hoppert and Andrea Herrera by three matches to nil before accounting for both Puerto Rico and Costa Rica by the three-one margin.

The one success for Puerto Rico came from Lyanne Aponte over Blanca Duran in the second match of the duel, but wins for Berta Rodriguez in opposition to Jerica Marrero and Gloriany Baba plus a doubles success for Maria Paulina Vega and Blanca Duran in opposition to Lyanne Aponte and Gloriany Baba, secured victory.

Similar
Similarly, in the contest against Costa Rica, it was the second match that went astray.

Angie Araya accounted for Maria Paulina Vega after Natalia Castellano had beaten Estefania Guillen. A doubles victory for Natalia Castellano and Blanca Duran gave Chile the lead, with the latter defeating Angie Araya to seal success.

Promising Peruvians
A quarter-final place secured and with Berta Rodriguez replacing Natalia Castellano in the line up, Chile defeated the promising Peruvian outfit of Angela Mori, Melissa Vargas and Nadia Quiñonez by three matches to nil to secure a semi-final clash against Mexico.

Experience Counts
Good form in the quarter-finals and that good form was maintained in the penultimate round with a three-one score line being posted.

The experienced Berta Rodriguez proved the backbone of victory.

She beat both Laura Rosales and Sarah Rosas with Blanca Duran and Maria Paulina Vega combining to win the doubles; the one host nation success came from Yadira Silva. In the second match of the contest, she defeated Maria Paulina Vega.

Source: www.ittf.com

Share this post