{"id":265686,"date":"2023-02-25T15:31:37","date_gmt":"2023-02-25T20:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=265686"},"modified":"2023-02-25T15:31:37","modified_gmt":"2023-02-25T20:31:37","slug":"andy-maqueira-the-genius","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/sports\/andy-maqueira-the-genius\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy Maqueira, the genius"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Fabio M. Quintero<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andy wanted to name the game after him. In the final match of the day, he was down two sets against the British Kacper Piwowar. He had previously lost the first four duels of the group by sweep. The table was near the stands. Then, Ra\u00fal Piedra, a friend of his father\u2019s, tells him: \u201cCalm down, you\u2019re hungry and when you\u2019re done, we\u2019ll go to a McDonald\u2019s.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, what I have is a thirst for victory,\u201d he replied.<\/span><\/p>\n

Andy Maqueira came in and drank the British to the last point:<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s left is the backhand serve, and the rival attacks forehand. He defends to the center and is again bombarded to the left. He responds to Kacper\u2019s right hand, which now cannot hit him hard and throws it into the middle. Andy counters with a backhand to the right, but his opponent does shoot hard up the middle. The Cuban throws it the other way around. The European hits back. They exchange attacks until Maqueira settles to his right and the complete discharge on the left of the opponent. The British contender can only touch the ball.<\/span><\/p>\n

Andy puts the racket on the table and runs to where his coach is. He jumps and screams. He turns to the stands and still screaming, flexes his feet and throws his hand into the air with a clenched fist, as if he were celebrating a goal and the World Cup final was being played in Nantes.<\/span><\/p>\n

He is at the 2023 World Hopes Week and Challenge Hannebont, in France, the World Table Tennis Championships for children up to 13 years old. There he defeated one who was 14, who was allowed to compete due to the delay caused by the pandemic and who had just been the holder of the wicontender prior to the event.<\/span><\/p>\n

He was a month away from turning 12. He was in the tournament for having won the Pan American championship in his category in September (the first Cuban to do so). The fifteen best players in the world went to France, plus the champions of the five continents of the lower age.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the biological and training disadvantage, Andy wanted to reach 10th or 5th place, and before leaving for Europe he dreamed of winning. But being the 15th on the planet is not bad at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

A raffle divided the athletes into two groups of ten. Red team and blue team. Andy picked the red; although he always dresses in the other color with a headband. The first six advanced to meet those of the other group, so even though he had a bad first day, he was still able to recover on the second.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that first day, I felt like I could beat anyone playing against me. I felt so excited and said: \u2018Hell, I have to start playing now, because since I had won I felt prepared, but the next day I started losing 3-0 against everyone in my group.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the consolation round I then beat the Filipino (Khevine Kheith Cruz) and then I lost against the Belgian (Matt Closset), who I don\u2019t know why was the easiest. I lost because he was serving long and I had to serve him short. The ball you see outside the table is a plate. I won\u2019t lie to you, I expected something better, I didn\u2019t like that 15th very much. I wasn\u2019t playing like I did in Cuba or the Dominican Republic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know\u2026. I felt it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIsn\u2019t it because the rivals were stronger?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think so, because here I play with the greats who have a higher level and I beat them and…the place I expected to take was 10th or 5th, because 1, 2 and 3 were very hard. It\u2019s not that I have low self-esteem; the thing is that these children have been playing table tennis all their lives.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n