Douglas, Khellawan clinch ICWI table tennis crowns

DERRON DOUGLAS continued his dominance after claiming the Boys Under-18 title of the Insurance Company of West Indies (ICWI) Super Bowl table tennis tournament while Priyankha Khellawan lifted the Girls' equivalent on Saturday at the National Racquet Centre, Tacarigua.

Douglas brushed aside his fellow Queen`s Park teammate Abraham Francis 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 in the final. In the semi-final round, the Tobagonian Douglas overcame a stubborn challenge from Carenage Blasters Nicolas Lee to win 11-9, 11-7, 5-11, 11-6 while Francis got past Mikhail Dookie 11-6, 6-11, 10-12, 11-7.

Douglas, who was recently selected for both junior and senior national teams, said, “I`m playing at the top of my game right now because I`m preparing for the upcoming Caribbean tournaments. I was successful in the U-18 and I will be aiming to do the same in the U-21 category.”

The 16-year-old Douglas added, “I won all my matches 3-0 except in the semi-final against Nicolas Lee.”

Douglas is preparing for his CSEC exams and his busy forthcoming national tours. Speaking on time-table dilemma he said, “I train three days a week from 4-8 pm and I have a study timetable that I work with after training.”

Standout junior female player and multiple Caribbean champion, Khellawan of Cobras defeated Queen's Park`s Imani Edwards-Taylor 11-8, 11-3, 3-11, 11-7. In the previous round, Khellawan swept Rebekah Sterling of Carenage Blasters 12-10, 11-8, 11-4 while Edwards-Taylor defeated Powergen`s Mikah Stroude 11-8, 11-8, 11-4.

Blasters Gabriel John lifted the Boys` Under-13, after defeating Crusaders` Malik Gopaul 11-4, 11-6, 12-10. In the final four, John triumphed over his clubmate Yannic Lewis 13-11, 11-9, 13-11) while John swept Dillon Bruce (WASA) in straight sets 11-9, 11-2, 11-7.

Queen's Park`s Chloe Fraser denied Guyanese champion Jasmine Billingy the Girls` U-13 crown, beating her in a keenly-contested final 11-6, 8-11, 13-11, 12-10. To qualify for the final, Fraser made little work of Lyllana Boodhan (WU) winning 11-6, 11-2, 11-6 while Billingy downed Powergen`s Jerisse Elder, also in straight sets 11-2, 11-4, 11-4.

The Guyanese contingent got revenge when Samara Sukhai won comfortably against (WU) Jannah Mohammed 11-1, 11-2, 11-0) for the Girls` U-11 title. In the semi-final, Sukai defeated Anandi (WU) Mahangoo 3-0 (11:1, 11:0, 11:1) as Jannah defeated her younger sister Hidayah 11-6, 11-4, 11-5.

Young-Star Daniel Bhim was unstoppable claiming the U-9 Boys' crown with a straight sets win over Cobra`s Aditya Khellawan – 11-3, 11-6, 11-4. In the semis, Bhim won against Liam Ratoo (WU) 11-5, 11-1, 11-4 and Khellawan eased pass Crusaders' Aaron Noel 11-6, 11-2, 11-3.