Thiago Monteiro continued South America’s excellent record in the Intercontinental Cup as he progressed to the main draw of the Liebherr Men’s World Cup with three comprehensive victories at the Echo Arena.
The IC Cup, previously won by Casuo Matsumoto (BRA), Liu Song (ARG) and Gustavo Tsuboi (BRA) was once again taken back to South America as Brazilian Monteiro comfortably beat Australian William Henzell in the final match.
Monteiro and Henzell had both won their respective opening matches against Ahmed Saleh (EGY) and Pierre-Luc Theriault (CAN) to set up the ‘final’ on Friday afternoon.
While Monteiro won both of his opening fixtures 4-1, Henzell had great difficulty in securing his opening win after Theriault had led 3-1 before the Australian stormed back to win.
In their final match-up it was Monteiro who was well ahead throughout as he cruised into a 2-0 lead with 11-8 and 11-7 games. At 7-1 up in the third Monteiro suffered his only stumble as Henzell leveled at 7-7. However, Monteiro held his nerve to claim the game 11-9.
The fourth game was more of a procession as Monteiro won it 11-7 to set up group matches with Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Michael Maze and Joo Se Hyuk.
IC Cup Results:
William Henzell bt Pierre-Luc Theriault 4-3 (6-11, 11-7, 9-11, 10-12, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6)
Thiago Monteiro bt Ahmed Saleh 4-1 (11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 11-3, 12-10)
William Henzell bt Ahmed Saleh 4-1 (11-3, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7)
Thiago Monteiro bt Pierre-Luc Theriault 4-1 (11-6, 11-4, 11-5, 9-11, 13-11)
Thiago Monteiro bt William Henzell 4-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-9, 11-7)
Ahmed Saleh bt Pierre-Luc Theriault 4-1 (5-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9)