May 20, 2010
André Silva & Ruaidda Ezzeddine Crowned Ibero-American Champions in Seville
 Three gold medals for André Silva at Ibero-American Championships Photo By: Ireneusz Kanabrodzki |
Courtesy of ITTF André Silva, 21 years old, won the Men’s Singles crown, partnered compatriot Diogo Carvalho to success in the Men’s Doubles event, having earlier in the week lined up alongside the latter and Diogo Silva to clinch gold in the Men’s Team competition. Three gold medals for André Silva and it was almost the same for Ruaidda Ezzeddine. |
Two Gold, One Silver
She secured gold in the Women’s Singles event and joined forces with erstwhile colleague, Fabiola Ramos, to clinch victory in the Women’s Doubles competition.
However, she could not quite match the success of André Silva with three gold medals.
Earlier in the week, she had to settle for the silver medal in the Women’s Team event. Joining forces with Fabiola Ramos and Winberly Montero, the trio finished in second place behind Spain `B’; their clash in the third round of proceedings proving the crucial duel.
Spanish Heroine
In a hard fought contest that went the full five match distance, Paula Bueno emerged as the Spanish heroine.
In the decisive contest, with the score in the fixture tied at two-all, she recovered from a two games to nil deficit to beat Ruaidda Ezzeddine to secure victory for the Spanish outfit.
Lightning Strikes Twice
It was for Ruadda Ezzeddine a contest she may wish to forget; in the second match of the fixture she had led Raquel Bonilla by two games to nil before eventually succumbing to defeat.
However, no doubt Women’s Singles and Women’s Doubles gold more than made amends.
The one further win for Spain came from Nadina Riera against Winberly Montero while for Venezuela; Fabiola Ramos defeated both Paula Bueno and Raquel Bonilla.
Final Order
Both teams accounted for Portugal, Puerto Rico, Spain `A’, Argentina and Peru in contest where all seven teams met on a “round robin” basis. Spain `A’ represented by Anna Badosa, Carmen Solichero and Marina Rodriguez clinched the bronze medal.
Argentina Causes Problems
Meanwhile, in the Men’s Team event, Argentina caused eventual champions, Portugal, the most problems.
They extended their European adversaries the full distance with the vastly experienced Liu Song, the man to cause problems. He beat both Diogo Carvalho and André Silva but that was the sum total of Argentina’s success.
Diogo Carvalho and André Silva both beat Pablo Tabachnik, while Diogo Silva overcame Gaston Alto in the third match of the fixture, a win that was to prove decisive. He succeeded by the very narrowest of five game margins.
South American Bronze
Third place was to be the eventual lot of Argentina; a three-two reverse against Portugal was followed by defeat by the same margin against Spain `A’, who clinched the silver medal spot.
Marc Duran proved the Spanish hero in the crucial contest beating both Liu Song and Pablo Tabachnik with Jesus Cantero also defeating the luckless Tabachnik. The Argentine wins came from Gaston Alto against Endika Diez and from Liu Song in opposition to Jesus Cantero.
Final Order
Spain `B’ finished in fourth place followed by Ecuador, Venezuela and Guatemala.
Convincing Performance
Success for André Silva in the Men’s Team event to clinch his first gold medal of proceedings and in the Men’s Singles competition he was even more impressive.
He was never extended the full seven games distance, beating Spain’s Alvaro Robles at the semi-final stage and doubles colleague Diogo Carvalho in the final, the latter having ousted Ecuador’s Alberto Miño one round earlier.
Tested
However, in the Men’s Doubles event in harness with Diogo Carvalho, times were more testing.
Seeded no.2, the champions elect were extended the full five games distance by Spain’s Endika Diez and Alvaro Robles in the final; the latter duo having caused somewhat of an upset by beating top seeds, Liu Song and Pablo Tabachnik in the semi-finals.
In the counterpart semi-final, Diogo Carvalho and André Silva had beaten Spain’s Alejandro Carvalho and Julio Reyes.
Semi-Final Upset
No full distance duels for André Silva in the Men’s Singles event but that was not the case for Ruaidda Ezzeddine.
She needed the full seven games to beat top seeded colleague, Fabiola Ramos, in the semi-finals before recording a five games victory over Portugal’s Catia Martins in the final.
Silver for the Portuguese player was a fine achievement; not seeded she had ousted Spain’s second seeded Carmen Solichero in the quarter-finals before ending the progress of Puerto Rico’s Jerica Marrero one round later.
Women’s Doubles
A close semi-final win for Ruaidda Ezzeddine in the Women’s Singles event and it was the same in the final of the Women’s Doubles competition.
In partnership with Fabiola Ramos, seeded no.1, the pair recovered from a two games to nil deficit against second seeded Anna Badosa and Carmen Solichero of Spain to secure gold having one round earlier inflicted more heartache on Spain by defeating Raquel Bonilla and Paula Bueno.
At the penultimate stage, Anna Badosa and Carmen Solichero had beaten Puerto Rico’s Lyanne Aponte and Gloriany Baba.
Click below for Full Results
Men’s and Women’s Team
Men’s Singles
Women’s Singles
Men’s Doubles
Women’s Doubles
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