Water polo boys lose to Costa Rica

THE national Under-16 boys’ water polo team lost its third of four matches at the Central America and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Confederation (CCCAN) Water Polo Championships in El Salvador, yesterday, after a narrow 11-9 defeat to Costa Rica.

The result followed a win and a loss on the opening day for team TT, and another loss against Bahamas (13-11) on Friday. As such, the team was pitted against El Salvador, the only team TT defeated in the four matches. The winner of that fixture advanced to today’s bronze medal match against Puerto Rico.

The series saw ups and downs for the team which started at a disadvantage before the tournament began. The team arrived at their hotel a night before the competition began, only to be greeted with protests outside their base. They were then forced to relocate to another hotel located approximate 30 minutes drive further from the tournament venue.

On the opening day of competition, TT faced a traditionally strong team in Puerto Rico, who were commanding. The match ended 20-10 in favour of Puerto Rico. Hours later, TT met the hosts and rebounded in style with an 18-10 win.

Unfortunately, the tides turned once again as coach Charissa Hackshaw’s TT team slumped to another loss, 13-11, at the hands of the Bahamas.