Havana, April 30 (JIT)-- The Cuban performance in the recent Children and Youth Table Tennis Championship of Santo Domingo 2024, in the Dominican Republic, was described as excellent by Bárbaro Oliva, national commissioner of that sport.

"It was a very effective participation, since with only five boys we got six medals in two of the categories," said the also president of the island's table tennis federation, after the farewell of a competition that brought together players under 19 years old.

Three gold medals and an equal number of bronze medals rounded out the harvest of the group made up of Andy Maqueira, Alejandro Martínez, Rosalba Aguiar, Diomar Argüelles and Fabio Estévez, who competed in the under-15 and under-19 age categories.

«We won the three finals we played, although those matches were very complex. They looked good and that shows that we have relief in table tennis in Cuba," added Oliva, while highlighting Maqueira's performance, achieving outstanding results against players from higher categories.

The second in the American ranking among those under 13 years of age won the bronze medal in the individual under-15 competition, in which his teammate Martínez was crowned after a tight final that was defined in five sets (11-9, 5-11, 7-11, 11-7 and 11-9) against local Alexander Tejada.

Maqueira and Martínez joined forces to go through the doubles tournament of the same category unbeatable. The most complex obstacle was overcome in the final, when they needed to reach the limit to subdue the host team of Tejada and Alexander Pérez with scores of 12-10, 11-9, 4-11, 4-11 and 11-3.

The third medal “set” by Maqueira came in the mixed doubles of the same age segment. He then partnered with Stuti Kashyap, from Antigua and Barbuda, to climb to third place on the podium.

The other title featured Argüelles and Rosalba, who stood out in the mixed doubles event of the under-19 section. They won three games before competing for the title against Ramón Vila and Arianna Estrella from Quisqueyas.

In another epic duel and after unfavorable sets of 7-11 and 11-13 points, they gained strength for an impressive comeback that they achieved with scores of 11-7, 11-9 and 12-10.

The good work of the young Cuban tennis players was completed by the third place achieved by Argüelles, Martínez and Estévez in the men's team competition of the under-19 category.