Argentinian top seeds Gaston Alto and Pablo Tabachnik comfortably beat Brazil’s Vitor Ishiy and Eric Jouti to secure their place in the men’s doubles final at the ITTF Latin American Championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico ©ITTF

Argentinian top seeds Gaston Alto and Pablo Tabachnik comfortably beat Brazil’s Vitor Ishiy and Eric Jouti to secure their place in the men’s doubles final at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Latin American Championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The 2014 champions claimed an 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 win against the number three seeds and will now go on to face home favourites Brian Afanador and Daniel Gonzalez, who overcame Mexico’s Marcos Madrid and Salvador Uribe 2-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-6 in the other semi-final.

"Our goal was to reach the final and we reached it," said Tabachnik.

"We played tough opponents today, good players.

"I think our experience counted; in the final that fact could prove most valuable against the two players from the host country."

Alto and Tabachnik earlier claimed a quarter-final win over Guatemala’s Hector Gatica and Heber Moscoso, 17-19, 11-6, 13-11, 11-5.

Paraguay’s Marcelo Aguirre and Alejandro Toranzos suffered a 7-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-3, 7-11 defeat in the last-eight against Afanador and Gonzalez, who will be hoping to win the title in front of their home crowd on Sunday (February 7).

"Argentina is always a tough team; Pablo and Gaston are very experienced players," said Gonzalez.

"We just have to play our best, we are at home and we can use that to our advantage."

Puerto Rico's Brian Afanador and Adriana Diaz came away with the respective men’s and women’s under 21 titles
Puerto Rico's Brian Afanador and Adriana Diaz came away with the respective men’s and women’s under 21 titles ©ITTF

The final will follow the women’s doubles showdown, which will pit Argentina’s Camila Arguelles and Ana Codina against Venezuela’s Gremlis Arvelo and Neridee Niño.

Having caused a major quarter-final upset by beating the Brazilian top seeded partnership of Gui Lin and Caroline Kumahara 11-4, 10-12, 11-8, 11-7, number six seeds Arguelles and Codina advanced with a hard-fought 11-9, 13-11, 9-11, 9-11, 12-10 victory against Chile’s Katherine Low and Paulina Vega.

They trailed 8-10 in the vital fifth game before winning four points in a row to set up a contest with Arvelo and Niño - 11-6, 11-4, 12-10 winners against Puerto Rico’s Carelyn Cordero and Daniely Rios in the semi-finals.

Codina will also be vying for top honours in tomorrow’s mixed doubles final after she and Tabachnik defeated Afanador and fellow Puerto Rican Adriana Diaz 12-10, 7-11, 12-10, 4-11, 11-8 in the last four.

Standing in the Argentinians’ way are Brazil’s Ishiy and Kumahara - 11-4, 12-10, 10-12, 11-3 winners against another Argentine duo Rodrigo Gilabert and Candela Molero.

The day ended with back-to-back successes for Puerto Rico as Afanador and Diaz came away with the respective men’s and women’s under 21 titles.

Afanador beat Paraguay’s Alejandro Toranzos 11-3, 11-8, 11-9 after Diaz had emerged an 11-7, 11-8, 5-11, 11-6 victor against sister Melanie to add another trophy to her already extensive collection of silverware.