TT take Junior Team bronze at CAREBACO

NICKOLAI MADRAY

CHANTS OF “Let’s go TT, Let’s Go!" rang out in the National Racquet Centre, Tacarigua, as Trinidad and Tobago's Junior Badminton team secured the bronze position at the 2017 CAREBACO Junior Team Championships, on Wednesday evening.

National teams are formed on the basis of athletes putting their country before individual and self-interest. It is for this reason that the CAREBACO Junior Championships implemented both an individual tournament and a team component, which concluded on last Sunday and Wednesday, respectively.

Trinidad and Tobago's junior squad were led by Under-13 silver medallist, Travis Sinanan, and consisted members including Stefano Bedasie, Leon Cassie, Chequeda De Boulet, Sandhya Cassie, Josef Gonzales, Vance Juteram, Nathaniel Khillawan, Ananda Ramsingh, Renaldo Sinanan and Ralitsa Wong. TT's youths displayed their fine form to overcome Barbados 3 -1, and granted the hosts bronze at this year's event. The local team did not win a single match at the CAREBACO in 2016 which underscored the accomplishment of copping bronze.

Each team played five events in the Team Competition – the Girls’ and Boys’ Singles, the Girls’ and Boys’ Doubles, and the Mixed Doubles.

Teams were placed in two groups A and B and played each other on a round-robin basis. Group A consisted of Dominican Republic, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago while Barbados, Guyana and Jamaica battled in Group B. The top two teams from each group then moved on to the semi-finals.

At the end of preliminary play, the four teams advancing to the semi-final round were the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago (Group A), Jamaica and Barbados (Group B).

In the first of the semi-final matches the Dominican Republic defeated Barbados 3-1 while the second semi-final saw local hopes dashed as the host team lost to Jamaica 3-0. The finals and the third place play-off took place on Wednesday with Jamaica taking on the Dominican Republic for the gold medal and Trinidad and Tobago playing Barbados for the bronze.

The Dominican Republic proved too strong for the Jamaican team as they triumphed 3-1.

In the fifth place playoff, Suriname defeated neighbours Guyana 3-1. The tournament continues today at 3 pm with the continuation of the Under-19 International, which stated last evening, along with the Senior Team action which runs from today until Sunday.