TT badminton teams fail to advance in Pan Am champs

THE TT men’s and women’s badminton teams did not advance to the semi-finals when the Pan American Male and Female Continental Badminton Team Championships continued at the National Racquet Centre in Tacarigua.

TT women finished fifth overall among the six teams in the women’s category after Dominican Republic withdrew from the fifth place playoff yesterday. The TT men ended seventh overall among the seven teams in the men’s category.

On Friday afternoon, the TT men fell to Dominican Republic 5-0 when the preliminary stage continued. Naim Mohammed came the closest to claiming a win for TT as he battled against Reymi Cabreras in three sets. However, Cabreras prevailed with 14-21, 21-18, 21-12 victory. Therry Aquino of Dominican Republic defeated Renaldo Sinanan of TT 21-19, 21-12, while Wilmer Brea made it three wins in a row in the singles category with a 21-17, 21-15 win over Nathaniel Khillawan.

Dominican Republic continued to dominate in the doubles matches as William Cabrera Jose and Nelson Javier Ozuna outlasted home town duo Mohammed and Anil Seepaul 21-19, 21-14, while Cesar Brito and Cabreras got past Khillawan and Sinanan 21-14, 21-17.

The TT women also suffered a 5-0 loss in their series against USA.

Jamie Hsu got past Nekeisha Blake 21-3, 21-4, Lauren Lam defeated Avril Marcelle 21-6, 21-5 and Natalie Chi cruised to a 21-11, 21-6 win over Latoya Walrond. In the doubles, Lam and Angela Zhang eased to a 21-7, 21-11 victory over Blake and Kerian Quan Chee to make it 4-0 for USA.

Chi and Jamie Subandhi made it a 5-0 series win for USA with a 21-4, 21-6 victory over Marcelle and Walrond.

In the women’s semi-finals yesterday, Canada and USA advanced to the finals recording 3-0 victories over Guatemala and Peru respectively. Canada and USA will also meet in the men’s final as the teams defeated Jamaica and Peru respectively.

The finals will take place at 10.30 am today, while the third place play-off matches will begin at 9.30 am.