March 3, 2010
Brazil Captures Men’s Team Crown in Cancun Cauldron
 Gustavo Tsuboi the hero for Brazil in Cancun Photo By: Georg Diener |
Courtesy of ITTF In a tension packed Men’s Team final against traditional South American rivals, Argentina, he beat the more experienced Liu Song in a nail-biting full distance five games encounter to secure gold for Brazil. |
The match scores level at two-all; Gustavo Tsuboi won an absolutely classic duel.
Currently occupying the no.191 spot on the ITTF Men’s World Rankings, he overcame Liu Song, presently listed at no.104, and 13 years the senior of the Brazilian, by the margin of 11-6, 10-12, 5-11, 11-6, 12-10.
Perfect Start for Brazil
It was a hard fought contest between the two arch rivals.
The vastly experienced Hugo Hoyama, now 40 years old, gave Brazil the perfect start by beating Pablo Tabachnik in a close five games encounter before Liu Song leveled matters by overcoming Cazuo Matsumoto in four games.
Argentina Ahead
Played under the Olympic system where a fixture consists of four singles and one doubles with no player being allowed to compete in more than two matches, Gaston Alto and Pablo Tabachnik gave Argentina the ascendancy by recording a four games doubles win over Hugo Hoyama and Gustavo Tsuboi.
Cazuo Matsumoto leveled matters with a very impressive straight games win over Gaston Alto, replicating the form that had seen him win the Intercontinental Cup at the Liebherr Men’s World Cup in Moscow in October 2009.
Response
The stage was therefore set for Gustavo Tsuboi; the young man who excelled on the ITTF Junior Circuit by winning the Boys’ Singles title at the Peru Open in Lima in 2002 and at Egypt Open in Cairo one year later before as back injury forced him out of the game for over a year, duly responded.
He maintained his focus, his nerve and his level of determination to secure gold for Brazil.
Smooth Path
It was the one and only severe test for Brazil en route to the title.
Fielding the trio of Hugo Hoyama, Cazuo Matsumoto and Gustavo Tsuboi throughout, they did not surrender a single individual match on their way to the final.
In the group stage they beat the Dominican Republic (Emil Santos, Juan Vila, Samuel Galvez) and Ecuador (Alberto Miño, Geovanny Coello, Dino Suarez); followed by a quarter-final victory over Venezuela (Jonathan Pino, Marco Navas, Henry Mujica) and a semi-final success against Chile (Alejandro Rodriguez, Juan Papic, Andres Calier).
Tough Journey
However, the road to the final for Argentina was not quite so smooth.
They opened their account in the group stage fixtures with a three-nil victory over El Salvador (Josué Donado, Edilberto Merino, Luis Mejia) with Liu Song rested and Rodrigo Gilabert taking the field but then they were tested by Colombia.
Five Games Duels
They succeeded by three matches to one with only one duel not going the full five games distance.
Liu Song beat Juan Restrepo in three straight games before Alex Echavarria leveled matters by overcoming Pablo Tabachnik.
Gaston Alto and Pablo Tabachnik re-asserted the lead for Argentina by beating Juan Restrepo and Mauricio Rivera before Gaston Alto brought matters to a conclusion by overcoming Alexander Echevarria in an absolute thriller.
He won 12-10 in the fifth game.
Convincing Quarter-Final Win
Top place in the group secured and with the same trio on duty Argentina overcame Guatemala (Jose-Muguel Ramirez, Omar Flores, Hector Gatica) by three matches to nil before being involved in a cliff hanger against Mexico.
Marcos Madrid Outstanding
Thorn in the side of Argentina was Marcos Madrid, he accounted for both Liu Song and Pablo Tabachnik but success for Gaton Alto over Jude Okoh and a doubles victory for Liu Song and Pablo Tabachnik over Guillermo Muñoz and Jude Okoh meant that after four matches the fixture score was level.
The end result was therefore in the hands of Guillermo Muñoz; Gaston Alto captured the first two games, inspired by home support Guillermo Muñoz, leveled at two games all thus necessitating a decider.
Nails were bitten to the quick with delight being the end result for Argentina and despair the lot of Mexico. Gaston Alto won 12-10 in that vital decider.
Emotion Roller Coaster
Five hours later it was emotions reversed for Argentina, the defeat of Liu Song by Gustavo Tsuboi was the toll of despair.
Results
Click here for Full Men's and Women's Team Results
| Download the latest Flash Player to view content. |