Manabita Maybelline Menéndez Shines in Latin American Table Tennis Championship
Manabita Maybelline Menéndez closed her outstanding performance in the Latin American Table Tennis Championship, held in Puerto Rico, by winning the individual women's final against Puerto Rican Valentina Dávila, in the sub-11 category.
With the gold medal she obtained, the microtennis player born in Portoviejo on March 19, 2009, Ecuador finished its participation with two golds (women's team and women's individual) and two bronzes (women's doubles and mixed doubles).
Maybelline, who has received recognitions from Fedenador and the Provincial Government of Manabí, faced Colombian Sofía Pinzón and Costa Rican Valentina Aragón in the group stage, defeating them by 3-0 and advancing to the round of 16.
In the new phase, the Ecuadorian player had a bye and advanced directly to the round of 16, where she defeated Mexican Mabel López by 3-0 with scores of 11-6, 11-8, and 11-9, securing her spot in the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, she eliminated Peruvian Isabella León by 3-0, with scores of 11-4, 11-6, and 11-7.
The victory against the young Mexican player brought the Ecuadorian team to the semifinals, where they faced Peruvian Jazmín Colque. After an intense match, the champion of the women's team and the runner-up in the individual games at the 2019 National Youth Games in Cuenca achieved her third victory by 3-2, with scores of 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 8-11, and 11-9.
As the victorious Ecuadorian table tennis player, Maybelline had to compete in the final against the audience and against Valentina Dávila, whom she defeated confidently by 3-0, with scores of 11-3, 11-1, and 13-11.
Other Medals
Before her participation in the individual games, Maybelline had already won another gold medal by winning the women's team final with Camila Rubio from Morona Santiago, defeating the Peruvian pair of Jazmín Colque and Luciana Granados by 3-0.
The same Méndez-Rubio duo participated in the women's doubles and won the bronze medal by losing 0-3 in the semifinals against the Brazilian pair and eventual champions Julia Hatakeyama and Mahayla Sardá.
In the mixed doubles, Ecuador, represented by Alan Cabrera and Camila Rubio, won the second bronze medal by losing 3-1 (overall) in the semifinals against Brazilian players David Fujil and Mahayla Sarda.
Other Information
Delegation
Ecuador attended the Latin American Championship with twelve athletes, eight of whom competed in the sub-11 category, finishing in fourth place in the standings.
The Top Performers
Brazil finished first with 1,690 points; Puerto Rico finished second with 1,350 points; Colombia finished third with 1,090 points; while Ecuador accumulated 510 points and finished fourth. (D)