Cuba advances in Caribbean table tennis tournament

Havana, March 24 (RHC)--  Cubans advanced today as leaders of their pools and without losing a match in the team event of the Georgetown 2023 Caribbean Table Tennis Championship in Guyana.

The men dominated pool two with 3-0 set victories over Suriname and Guyana, where they relied on Andy Pereira and Adrian Perez for the singles matches, and Liván Martinez and Andy for the doubles.

In section one, the Puerto Ricans also swept with identical 3-0 wins over Barbados and Haiti, while in section three, the Dominican Republic won 3-0 over Trinidad and Tobago and 3-1 over Saint Lucia.

Cuba's girls made the same unblemished progress. They defeated the Dominican Republic 3-0 and repeated the formula against Trinidad and Tobago to advance as top seeds to the main draw.

The Puerto Ricans scored 3-0 against Guyana and Barbados to lead their team and secure their place on the other side of the bracket against the Cubans in the eliminations that will begin this Friday.

According to the tournament's website, in the early hours of Friday the remaining matches of the group stage will be completed and the scene will be ready to start the eliminations in the afternoon, until the quarterfinals.

The semifinals in both genders and the gold medal discussions are scheduled for Saturday, the final point of a competition in which the Caribbean qualifiers for the Pan American Games of Santiago 2023 will be defined.

So far, the Cubans have dominated the men's and women's doubles events and the singles with Andy and Daniela.

The president of the Cuban Table Tennis Federation, Bárbaro Oliva, praised the level shown by both teams and ratified that the Pan American qualification is the main objective.

For the Central American and Caribbean Games of San Salvador 2023, the places are assured based on the regional ranking.