TT look for glory in taekwondo, boxing

COMBAT sports will dominate TT’s schedule today as the Pan American Games continue in Lima, Peru, with Megan Lawrence contesting the last-eight stage in the women’s taekwondo (over 68 kilogrammes), and both Aaron Prince and Michael Alexander, two of TT’s most exciting fighters, in the men’s boxing events.

Prince and Alexander, who will face off against Eduardo Sanchez of Costa Rica (men’s light welter 64kg) and Nicaragua’s Arlen Lopez Cardona (men’s middle 75kg), respectively, are seeking better results than their team-mates who were unable to progress over the last few days.

Nigel Paul was in action on the opening day, Thursday, and lost his quarterfinal bout to Cristiano Salcedo Codazzi on points in the men’s super heavy (91+kg) division.

Last evening, TT’s Tyron Thomas was scheduled for a quarterfinal bourt in the men’s welter (68kg) quarterfinals, versus Rohan Polanco of the Dominican Republic.

The semifinals are scheduled for tomorrow and Wednesday, followed by the finals on Thursday.

Also yesterday, the women’s volleyball team closed in 14th spot, following a 2-0 play-off defeat to El Salvador. The Central Americans edged TT for the first set 22-20, then cruised to the win with a more comfortable 21-14 win in the second.

The team’s lone victory came against the US VIrgin Islands in the first placement (13th-16th) match, on Saturday, winning 2-0 (21-8, 21-10).

They opened their account against Colombia on Thursday, losing 2-0 (21-9, 21-12), and followed up with a second loss, albeit by a much tighter score-line against Costa Rica. TT lost that match 2-0 (21-18. 22-20).

The men’s team closed their account a day prior, finishing 15th, or second from bottom, with a 2-0 win over the hosts, Peru.

In men’s hockey, TT will get their account underway against Cuba tomorrow in the second match of Pool A. The first pool match will see TT’s other group opponents, Argentina and Chile, facing off. They face Argentina on Thursday and finally Chile on Saturday. The quarterfinals start next Monday.

The rugby women, meanwhile, endured a forgettable tournament, closing yesterday in eighth place after losing all their matches.

They were defeated 55-0 by USA on Friday; 38-10 by Colombia and 46-0 to Argentina, both on Saturday, all in the pool stages, and then twice again on also yesterday in the two placement matches, which meant they finished last of the eight teams. They first lost 31-10 to hosts Peru in the 5-8th place play-off, and finally 22-0 by Mexico in the eighth place decider.

In shooting, Roger Daniel finished 13th in the preliminary round and fell short of a place in the finals.

Nicholas Robinson made it into the semifinal of the men’s 200m canoe sprint, after placing sixth in his heat, clocking 41.328 seconds, but was unable to reach the final of that event.