TT grab two U-19 CAREBACO bronze

NICKOLAI MADRAY

Trinidad and Tobago took the bronze medals in both the Men’s and Women’s Doubles during the finals of the CAREBACO Under-19 International, which concluded at the National Racquet Centre, on Sunday. The CAREBACO entered the final stage of the tournament which started yesterday and runs until Friday.

Firstly, in the Men’s Doubles, Stefano Bedasie and Renaldo Sinanan defeated the pair of Jehu Gaskin and Shomari Smith from Barbados 21-9, 19-21, 21-16, to capture joint third with Jamaican pair, Joel Angus and Shane Wilson.

The local pair lost in the semi-finals to, the eventual silver medallist, Bruno Barrueto Deza and Diego Subaute Tokumura from Peru 21-10, 21-17. Peruvians Nicholas Macias and Diego Mini took the gold medal in a straight sets win over their countrymen Barrueto Deza and Subaute Tokumura 21-14, 21-18.

Trinidad and Tobago’s second medal came in the Women’s Doubles as Sandhya Cassie and Ananda Ramsingh beat their compatriots 21-18, 21-18 to secure the bronze medal along with Imani Mangroe and Mary-Ann Zhong of Suriname. The gold medal match between Ines Castillo and Paula La Torre Regal of Peru and Nairobi Jimenez and Bermary Altagarcia Polanco Munoz of the Dominican Republic, was the longest match of the night, lasting 54 minutes. The Peruvian pair triumphed in a hard fought 18-21, 21-19, 21-16 win over the Dominican rivals.

The Men’s Singles saw Shane Wilson from Jamaica battling with Italian Giovanni Toti. Wilson, a gold medallist from the Junior competition, took Toti to three sets before bowing to defeat against his more seasoned opponent, 13-21, 21-19, 21-14. Toti copped the gold with Wilson taking silver and Cesar Adonis Brito Gonzalez of the Dominican Republic and Diego Mini of Peru, jointly capturing the bronze medal.

The Women’s Singles finals were also contested between the No.2 seeded Fernanda Saponara Rivva of Peru and the No. 1 seeded Dominican Republic player, Nairobi Abigail Jimenez. Jimenez had the edge in the first game but was unable to sustain her momentum as she eventually lost to Saponara Rivva 17-21, 21-11, 21-14. The bronze medal was awarded jointly to Paula La Torre Regal, representing Peru and Bermary Altagarcia Polanco Munoz of the Dominican Republic.

In the final match of the night, Dominican Republic’s Cesar Adonis Brito Gonzalez and his partner Jimenez defeated the No. 1 seeds from Peru Barrueto Deza and Castillo 22-20 21-15 to take the gold medal. Finishing joint third were pairs from Peru Saponara Rivva and Subauste Tokumura along with Mini and La Torre Regal.

The final event of the tournament, the CAREBACO Open, started yesterday with the qualifiers for the main draw. The competition’s main draw begins today and will run until Friday. This stage of the competition features international players who will be trying to amass world ranking points for their qualification to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Matches begin at 10 am today with the round of 32 and 16. The quarter-final and semi-final rounds will be held tomorrow and Thursday, respectively, and starts at 6 pm each night. The finals, on Friday, are scheduled to conclude the 15- day CAREBACO event at the NRC, serving off at 7 pm.