Top Seed, Brazil’s Hugo Calderano booked his place in the semi-finals of the Junior Boys’ Singles event at the Brazil Junior and Cadet Open in Rio de Janeiro, as did the Czech Republic’s David Reitspies, the third seed and Chinese Taipei’s Yang Heng-Wei, the fourth seed.

All three enjoyed success on the fourth day of action, Saturday 14^th September 2013.

However, there was no place in the penultimate round for Hong Kong’s Hung Ka Tak, the second seed; he was beaten in the second round of proceedings by Argentina’s Fermin Tenti, the no.12 seed (11-6, 7-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-6).

Kilian Ort Ends Progress
A fine performance from the Argentine but there was to be no semi-final place; he experienced defeat at the quarter-final stage. 

Germany’s Kilian Ort ended progress in four straight games (11-9, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6).

In the penultimate round Kilian Ort meets Yang Heng-Wei, who overcame Portugal’s Diogo Chen, the no.6 seed (9-11, 12-10, 11-3, 11-6, 10-12, 11-5) to reserve his place in the last four. In the opposite half of the draw, the host nation’s Hugo Calderano opposes the Czech Republic’s David Reitspies.

Concluded Day
Hugo Calderano brought the penultimate day of action to a close by recovering from an opening game deficit to beat Hong Kong’s Lam Siu Hong, the no.7 seed (6-11, 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 11-3, 11-5); whilst David Reitspies secured victory in a tense full distance five games duel against Germany’s Qiu Dang (11-3, 8-11, 15-13, 8-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5).

Top Four Progress
One casualty amongst the top four names in the Junior Boys’ Singles event en route to the semi-finals but none in the counterpart Cadet Boys’ Singles competition, where the top four top names all progressed to the penultimate round.

Brazil’s Gustavo Yokota, the top seed, booked his places in the semi-finals courtesy of success against Singapore’s Tay Ming Han Maxxe, the no.6 seed (11-5, 14-12, 10-12, 12-10); whilst second seed, Hong Kong’s Kwan Man Ho, progressed by overcoming Argentina’s Francisco Sanchi, the no.8 seed (12-10, 11-7, 7-11, 11-6).

Similar Situation
Similarly, there was quarter-final success for the latter’s colleague, Horacio Cifuentes, the no.3 seed and Singapore’s Ethan Poh Shao Feng, the no.4 seed.

Horacio Cifuentes beat Ethan Poh Shao Feng’s colleague, Darren Loy Meng Hean, the no.9 seed, by the very narrowest of five game margins (1-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-8, 13-11); whilst Ethan Poh Shao Feng overcame Brazil’s Vitor Santos, the no.7 seed, in an equally close duel (8-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-9).

Semi-Finals

At the semi-final stage, Gustavo Yokota meets Ethan Poh Shao Feng, Kwan Man Ho opposes Horacio Cifuentes.

Doubles Trouble
No surprises of note in the Cadet Boys’ Singles event as matters advanced towards the semi-final stage but that was not the situation in the Junior Boys’ Doubles and Cadet Boys’ Doubles events.

In the Junior Boys’ Doubles, Chinese Taipei’s Sun Chia-Hung and Yang Heng-Wei, the top seeds, duly booked their place in the main draw as did the combination of Puerto Rico’s Brian Afanador and the Czech Republic’s David Reitspies, the no.2 seeds.

However, Hong Kong’s Lam Siu Hang and Li Hon Ming, the no.3 seeds, suffered a quarter-final defeat at the hands of Portugal’s Diogo Chen and Jorge Costa, with Germany’s Kilian Ort and Qiu Dang departing in the same round.

The no.4 seeds, they were beaten by Brazil’s Vitor Ishiy and Massao Kohatsu, the no.6 seeds (11-4, 12-10, 11-7).

Penultimate Round
In the penultimate round, Sun Chia-Hung and Yang Heng-Wei oppose Diogo Chen and Jorge Costa; Brian Afanador and David Reitspies oppose Vitor Ishiy and Massao Kohatsu.

One Casualty
Meanwhile, in the Cadet Boys’ Doubles event there was one casualty amongst the top four pairings en route to the semi-finals.

Argentina’s Horacio Cifuentes and Francisco Sanchi suffered a quarter-final defeat against Brazil’s Renan Ferreira and Gustavo Hayashi (11-8, 11-8, 11-7).

At the semi-final stage they meet Singapore’s Ethan Poh Shao Feng and Lucas Tan, the no.3 seeds; in the opposite half of the draw, Vitor Santos and Gustavo Yokota, the no.1 seeds, Darren Loy Meng Hean and Tay Ming Han Maxxe.

The Finals
All finals will be played on Sunday 15^th September 2013.

Article by: ITTF - Ian Marshall

Photo By: Manfred Schillings