[UPDATED] TT teams fall on Day 1 at Pan Am water polo championships

JELANI BECKLES AND YANNICK QUINTAL

THE TT girls and boys had a rough start when the 2019 Pan American Youth Water Polo Championships began at the National Aquatic Centre in Couva, yesterday.

TT lost 32-6 to Brazil in their opening match in the girls Under-17 division. Brazil were out the gates quickly opening up a 10-0 advantage after the first period. The Brazilians defence stifled the TT players leaving them with little space to create goal scoring opportunities. The South Americans also created a number of clear cut chances on goal which they converted consistently.

Brazil continued to dominate the contest in the second period scoring eight more goals, while TT were forced to shoot a fair distance from goal which was easily dealt with by the Brazil defence.

Brazil led 18-0 at half-time, but TT coach Jeff Passwater seemed to inspire his players as the third period was evenly contested. Brazil led 23-5 after the third period as both teams scored five goals. A long distance effort got TT on the board, while the home team’s defence made some adjustments giving Brazil less space to create chances.

The Brazilians added nine more goals in the fourth period and TT scored once as the match ended 32-6. Aaliyah Aching and Tiffany Green scored two goals each for TT and Breanne Jordan and Tahira Beepat scored once.

In the boys Under-17 match, TT faced off against Canada losing their first preliminary game 23-5.

Canada jumped out to an early 6-2 lead at the end of the first period, but TT still looked to be able to challenge the Canadians and make it a game. Unfortunately, the Canadians simply looked to be too strong and too long against TT but the home team never lost heart.

While they allowed 23 goals they also made a number of stops and made some defensive plays in their own half to keep Canada from running up the score.

The US, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Peru and TT will participate in the Under-17 girls division, while the US, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Bahamas, along with TT will compete in the Under-17 boys category.

The championships, which end on August 24, is a qualification tournament for the fifth FINA Youth Water Polo World Championships to be held in 2020.

Both TT teams must finish in the top four of their respective categories to qualify for the 2020 World Championships. To guarantee a top four finish the TT boys must win at least three matches and the girls must win two. Today, TT will face off against the US in the girls preliminary division at 11.40 am and then the TT boys will play against Argentina at 2 pm.

OTHER DAY ONE SCORES

Girls Division

Canada def Argentina 16-3

USA def Peru 25-5

Boys Division

USA def Brazil 20-10

Argentina def Peru 11-7

WEEKEND FIXTURES

Today

Girls: Argentina vs Brazil, 9 am; Canada vs Peru, 10.20 am; USA vs TT, 11.40 am.

Boys: TT vs Argentina, 2 pm; Brazil vs Peru, 3.30 pm; USA vs Colombia, 4.40 pm; Canada vs Bahamas, 6 pm.

Tomorrow

Girls: Brazil vs USA, 9 am; Peru vs Argentina, 10.20 am; TT vs Canada, 11.40 am.

Boys: Peru vs TT, 2 pm; Argentina vs USA, 3.20 pm; Colombia vs Canada, 4.40 pm; Bahamas vs Brazil, 6 pm.

This story was originally published with the title "TT water polo teams lose at Pan Am" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

THE TT girls' and boys' teams had a rough start when the 2019 Pan American Youth Water Polo Championships began at the National Aquatic Centre in Couva today.

TT lost 32-6 to Brazil in their opening match in the girls' Under-17 division. Brazil led 18-0 at halftime, but TT coach Jeff Passwater seemed to inspire his players, as the third period was evenly contested. Brazil led 23-5 after the third period, as both teams scored five goals. The Brazilians added nine more goals in the fourth period and TT scored once as the match ended 32-6.

Aaliyah Aching and Tiffany Greene scored two goals each for TT and Breanne Jordan and Tahira Beepat scored once.

The TT boys' Under-17 team also lost their opening contest, falling 23-5 to Canada.