The men’s and women’s team competitions began Tuesday afternoon at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, but only a few matches were played, as most of the countries had byes in the first round of play. The team competitions are country versus country with a best of three matches format: two singles and one doubles. The order of the matches varies across rounds of play. On Tuesday, it was doubles first, then the #1 singles players and, if necessary, the #2 singles players. In Wednesdays quarterfinals, it will be the #2 singles match, followed by the #1 singles match and then - if necessary - the doubles match.
There were three matches in the Women’s Team event. Costa Rica defeated Cuba in two straight matches, and will play the Independent Athletes in Wednesday's quarterfinals. The other two matches both required all three matches to determine the winner. Canada came out on top of Chile, 2-1, and in a bit of a surprise, the Dominican Republic ousted Ecuador, 2-1.
The Dominicans won the doubles match, 11-6, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9. Then Veronica Sotomayor beat Maria Cespedes, 11-3, 11-3, 11-4, in the first singles match, but in the deciding singles match Merynanyelly Delgado defeated Maria José Muñoz, 11-8, 10-12, 11-4, 11-4.
The win puts the Dominicans into Wednesday’s quarterfinals, when they’ll play Argentina. In the other quarters, Canada will play the top seeded Mexican team, Costa Rica faces the Independent Athletes, and Bolivia and the USA will face off.
In the two Men’s Team battles on Tuesday, the Independent Athletes beat Cuba in two straight matches, and Argentina defeated Chile, 2-1. Argentina came back from two games down in the doubles match to win, 8-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-3. Then Jaime Mansilla defeated Fernando Kurzbard, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5, so it fell to Diego Garcia and Rafael Galicia to settle it with Garcia prevailing in three straight games, 11-2, 11-4, 11-2.
The Men’s Team quarterfinals will be Mexico versus Independent Athletes with the winner facing the winner of Canada and Costa Rica. On the other half of the draw, Bolivia plays Argentina and the USA is up against Ecuador.
We expect there will be some more streaming on the Pan American Sports channel, but it might not happen until the finals on Thursday. We’ll let you know if we find out otherwise.
2023 Pan American Games - Santiago, Chile
Note: all times are Chilean time, which is one hour earlier than Eastern time in North America.
Men’s Team - Round of 16 - Tuesday
1) Mexico - BYE
8) Independent Athletes d. 9) Cuba, 2-0
5) Costa Rica - BYE
4) Canada - BYE
3) USA - BYE
6) Ecuador - BYE
7) Argentina d. 10) Chile, 2-1
2) Bolivia - BYE
Men’s Team - Quarterfinals - Wednesday
1) Mexico v. 8) Independent Athletes - 10 AM
4) Canada v. 5) Costa Rica - 10 AM
3) USA v. 6) Ecuador - 10 AM
2) Bolivia v. 7) Argentina - 10 AM
Women’s Team - Round of 16 - Tuesday
1) Mexico - BYE
9) Canada d. 8) Chile, 2-1
5) USA - BYE
4) Bolivia - BYE
3) Independent Athletes - BYE
6) Costa Rica d. 11) Cuba, 2-0
10) Dominican Republic d. 7) Ecuador, 2-1
2) Argentina - BYE
Women’s Team - Quarterfinals - Wednesday
1) Mexico v. 9) Canada - 10:45 AM
4) Bolivia v. 5) USA - 10:45 AM
3) Independent Athletes v. 6) Costa Rica - 10:45 AM
2) Argentina v. 10) Dominican Republic - 10:45 AM
Follow the bouncing ball....
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