Alexander claims first medal for TT

MICHAEL Alexander will become TT’s first medallist at the 2019 Pan American Games after winning his men’s light welterweight (64-kilogramme) quarter-final bout against Costa Rica’s Eduardo Sanchez, 3-1 on points at the Miguel Grau Coliseum in Callao yesterday.

The 26-year-old, who is also a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, advanced to today’s semi-final, where he will face Keyshawn Davis of the United States. Both losing semifinalists are assured a bronze medal, while the two winners will advance to the final.

His team-mate Aaron Prince contested the men’s middleweight (75kg) quarter-finals, after press time last evening, against Nicaragua’s Lesther Jose Espino.

In women’s badminton, TT’s lone representative, Nekeisha Blake, suffered a 2-0 loss in her opening match, a round-of-32 contest against Mexico’s Adriana Valero. Valero won both sets comfortably 21-6, 21-12.

Meanwhile, the first day of the two-day men’s shooting (trap) qualifying at Las Palmas Range began yesterday with TT’s Robert Auerbach Jr and Anthony Maharaj, closed in 22nd and 31st place with 42 points and 19 points, respectively, after two rounds.

They will face an uphill task of sealing a place in the final when they complete the qualifying round today. Only the top six shooters will move into the final.

In more action at Las Palmas Range, Olympian Roger Daniel and teammate Marsha Bullen-Jones, combined for a total of 729 points in the mixed 10m air pistol team event, which saw them close in 22nd out of 24 places. Only the top five athletes progressed to today’s final.

In women’s taekwondo (over 67kg) Megan Lawrence faced a formidable task against Colombian Gloria Mosquera in the round-of-eight in which she lost 22-1. Lawrence returned later in the day for the repechage round, but also lost that contest 15-6 to Madelynn Gorman of the United States. Action resumes today with the men’s hockey team taking on Cuba in both teams’ opening Pool A match. The match is carded for a noon (TT time) flick off.

They will then face Argentina and Chile in their other Pool A matches on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.