Leshon Francis and Shatal Charles ended strong runs in the Pan American Youth Table Tennis Championships on Saturday. The two Under-15 athletes were the only Saint Lucians playing on the seventh day of the competition in Santa Fe, Argentina.
Earlier in the week, Francis had swept Group 4 in preliminary action, defeating Puerto Rico’s Esteban Ayala, Mexico’s Sebastian Nunez, and Canada’s Alexandre Guay. Against Ayala, he won 3:1 (12:10, 11:7, 6:11, 11:4) before stopping Nunez in straight sets, 3:0 (11:7, 11:3, 11:7). He got his toughest test against the Canadian, who was 2:0 up at one point. But Francis rallied to even the tie. In the last game, Guay was up 10:7, but Francis fought him to deuce, and eventually prevailed 3:2 (9:11, 6:11, 12:10, 11:8, 13:11).
Francis got the better of his round of 32 matchup with Brazil’s Vinicius Rech, 3:2 (11:9, 6:11, 11:8, 8:11, 11:9). He finally met his match in the Round of 16, as the tournament’s top seed, Kef Noorani of the USA, held on for the win 3:2 (11:8, 9:11, 11:9, 3:11, 11:8).
Charles opened Group 7 with a loss to Canada’s Amber Lin 3:1 (11:6, 11:7, 11:7, 11:2). But she bounced back with a hard-fought victory of Mexico’s Umikao Muraoka 3:2 (11:6, 11:9, 5:11, 9:11, 11:8). Her triumph over Puerto Rico’s Naymaris Hernandez Martinez was a lot more straightforward, as she swept to a 3:0 (11:9, 11:6, 11:5) win.
Charles produced two fine displays in the playoffs. She overcame Brazil’s Emanuelly Santos 3:2 (11:8, 6:11, 11:6, 5:11, 11:9), before exiting 3:2 (11:8, 11:6, 10:12, 10:12, 11:3) in a thriller against Argentina’s Alexia Salusso.
Chris Wells, the lead coach for the Saint Lucia Table Tennis Association, was impressed by the performances. SLTTA president Teddy Matthews is leading the squad in Argentina, but Wells has been monitoring his charges closely, and he was pleased to see them holding their own against much more seasoned players.
“They are at the level of the Under-19 players at their current ages,” he explained. “Had they been competing in the Under-19, it would have been tougher. Most of the top juniors compete on the world circuit. Many play in European leagues. Most play many world tournaments every year, hence their high world rankings compared to our athletes. We get our world points from competing in the Caribbean only.
“The Under-15 athletes play a few world events, attend training camps around the world, but they don’t get to play in European leagues as such. Leshon and Shatal are also very talented and disciplined. They work hard. In addition, they both have medalled in several regional tournaments in their careers. Leshon has had three Caribbean titles to his name, and Shatal has had two, along with four at the Senior Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States level.”
In the Under-19 competition, Saint Lucia finished without a win. In the boys’ singles, Manie Eleuthere lost 3:0 to Ramon Vila of the Dominican Republic and Uruguay’s Sebastian Timbal. Joshua Lubin fell 3:0 to Ecuador’s Boris Villavicencio and Darryl Tsao of the USA. Stephen Steele was beaten 3:0 by Argentina’s Franco Varela and Paraguay’s Yuichi Amarilla.
In doubles action, Lubin and Eleuthere lost 3:1 to Guatemala’s Ian Morales and Marcos Chevez. Steele and Francis lost 3:0 to the USA’s Nandan Naresh and Daniel Tran. Francis and Charles lost in Under-15 mixed doubles, 3:2, against Costa Rica’s Lucca Lobo and Valentina Valverde.
