TT bag three more medals at CAC Games

TT bagged three more medals yesterday at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games, currently taking place at Barranquilla, Colombia.

TT got a gold and bronze in cycling, and a silver in rowing, to extend their tally of silverware to four.

The trio of Nicholas Paul, Kwesi Browne and Njisane Phillip defeated Venezuela in the final of the men’s team sprint to secure the second gold medal for TT at the Games.

Colombia got the better of Mexico in the bronze medal showdown.

Less than 48 hours earlier, swimmer Dylan Carter copped gold in the men’s 100-metre freestyle.

Also, in cycling, Teneil Campbell got bronze in the women’s scratch final, with Marlies Mejias of Cuba and Lizbeth Salazar of Mexico securing gold and silver respectively.

In a media release issued by the TT Cycling Federation (TTCF) last evening, Public Relations Officer (PRO) Roxanne Ramnath said, “The TTCF fraternity is indeed very proud of everyone’s performance (yesterday) and, most of all, these medal achievements.

“They have been training very hard under the stewardship of (sprint coach) Erin Hartwell whom we know is very happy at these results. It is well deserving,” the media release added.

Felice Aisha Chow earned silver in rowing, in the women’s single sculls final. Chow crossed the finish line in nine minutes 26.24 seconds, trailing Cuba’s Yariulvis Cobas who stopped the clock in nine minutes 13.05 seconds. Naiara Arrillaga of Mexico finished third in 9:41.22.

Carter was vying for his second Games medal last evening, in the final of the men’s 50m butterfly, along with fellow TT swimmer Joshua Romany.

In the preliminary round earlier yesterday, Carter set another Games record, as he touched the wall in 23.50 seconds to win the fifth and final heat. Romany won the first heat, in 23.73 seconds.

In the men’s 100m backstroke, Jabari Baptiste was fifth in heat two in 58.02 seconds, and David McLeod was seventh in heat three in 59.25. The TT women’s hockey team fought back from a goal down to defeat Barbados 2-1 in a Pool B preliminary round encounter. Keisha Boyce gave Barbados a 17th minute lead but TT responded with a double from Shaniah De Freitas, in the 22nd and 58th.

Today, the TT men’s team will be looking to emulate their female counterparts with a win against the Bajans, in a Pool A fixture.

TT were also victorious, in volleyball, as the women’s squad whipped Costa Rica 25-18, 25-23, 25-16 in a preliminary round Pool B match.

In table tennis, TT failed to progress past the quarter-final stage of the women’s doubles.

The tandem of Rheann Chung and Brittany Joseph were beaten by Guatemala’s Mabelyn Enriquez and Andrea Estrada 12-10, 4-11, 11-5, 11-8 and the duo of Linda Partap and Catherine Spicer were eliminated by El Salvador’s Emme Arias and Estefania Ramirios 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7.

In another racquet sport – squash – TT did not advance to the semi-finals in the men’s, women’s and mixed doubles categories.

The men’s twosome of Chayse McQuan and Nku Patrick were soundly beaten 11-8, 11-4 by Bermuda’s Micah Franklin and Noah Browne.

The women’s duo of Claire Barcant and Alexandria Yearwood were whipped by the Colombia team of Laura and Maria Tovar Perez 11-4, 11-6.

And the mixed pair of Kale Wilson and Charlotte Knaggs were spanked 11-6, 11-7 by another Colombia tandem, Catalina Peleaz and Miguel Rodriguez.

TT rifle shooters had a disappointing outing, yesterday.

In the men’s 50m pistol individual, Rhodney Allen placed eighth with 522 points, Roger Daniel was 11th with 519 and Clement Marshall was 24th with 456. Mexico’s Daniel Urquiza fired his way to gold with 534 points.

And, in the men’s 50m pistol team, TT were seventh with a tally of 1,497 points, as Mexico triumphed with 1,580 points.

The TT men’s footballers (with three over-aged players complimenting an Under-20 squad) registered their second straight defeat at the Games, courtesy of a 3-2 result against Costa Rica, in Group A.

Randall Leal Arley (ninth and 23rd minutes) and Andres Gomez (15th) were on target for the Central Americans, before TT responded, with items from John Paul Rochford (60th) and Nickel Orr (67th).

Today, sailors Andrew Lewis and Kelly Ann Arrindell are expected to be in action, in the Men’s Laser Opening Series and Women’s Laser Radial Opening Series respectively.