Notícia

BRAZIL WINS TWO UDER-21 MEDALS

Por CBTM

Brazil won two medals this Saturday (24^th) in the Brazilian Open, competition that is part of the World Pro Tour. Cazuo Matsumoto and Gustavo Tsuboi got bronze medals for their performance in the under-21 singles competition. Cazuo, number 24 on the world under-21 ranking, lost his semifinal match to the Korean player Tae Hoon Kim (18^th) 4-3 (4-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-1, 11-5, 9-11 and 8-11), in a thrilling dispute. Gustavo Tsuboi (43^rd), on the other hand, was defeated by the Portuguese athlete Tiago Apolonia (23^rd), 4-0 (3-11, 8-11, 8-11 and 7-11). Since 2002 Brazil hadn't won a medal for the under-21 class in a Brazilian Open. The last time was with Thiago Monteiro (gold) and Ligia Silva (bronze).

"I glad about the medal, but I could have gone further. My goal was to get the gold", Cazuo commented, 21 years old, who in 2007 won't be able to dispute this class anymore. "It took a while for me to get into the match. When I started giving my best he was winning 2-0. During the sixth set, I was ahead 6-3 and I could have closed the match then. Unfortunately, in the final set, I was so worried about defending his serve that I "forgot" to attack", the table tennis player, who won the silver medal in the Croatian Open, Under-21, 2005, explained.

Gustavo Tsuboi was also sorry about his own mistakes. However, winning this bronze was "special".

"I haven't been practicing that much because of a tendonitis on my knee. To tell you the truth, the doctor had forbidden me to compete. But I could let the chance to play a Pro Tour in Brazil", said Tsuboi, who now will focus on healing the injury. "I made some silly mistakes; I'm not used to making errors. This has shaken my self-confidence", he added.

DOUBLES: Cazuo Matsumoto and Gustavo Tsuboi still dispute this Saturday the quarterfinals for he doubles competition against their fellow players Thiago Monteiro and Hugo Hoyama, the latter are gold medalist of the Pan-American Games in Santo Domingo 2003. Beside Bruno Anjos, Tsuboi was silver in the Dominican Republic in 2003. Whichever double win, they guarantee at least a bronze medal - in case they lose the semifinal.

The campaigns:

Cazuo Matsumoto

Cazuo Matsumoto (4-2 = 8-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-5, 9-11 and 11-6) x Nicolas Ubilla (CHI)

Cazuo Matsumoto (4-0 = 11-6, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7) x Emmanuel Lebesson (FRA)

Cazuo Matsumoto (3-4 = 4-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-1, 9-11, 8-11) x Tae Hoon Kim (KOR)

Gustavo Tsuboi

Gustavo Tsuboi (4-2 = 11-7, 13-11, 13-15, 11-7, 10-12, 11-4) x Qiang Shen (CAN)

Gustavo Tsuboi (WO) x Jin Kwon Lee (KOR)

Gustavo Tsuboi (0-4 = 3-11, 8-11, 8-11, 7-11) x Tiago Apolônia (POR)