Four Trinidad and Tobago athletes move on to Caribbean Champs singles knockouts

TRINIDAD and Tobago women’s and men’s table tennis teams bowed out of the Central and Caribbean Games (CAC) Qualifiers in sixth and third position respectively when action concluded at the National Indoor Gymnasium in Guyana on Sunday.

Both TT teams qualified for the 2023 San Salvador CAC Games on Saturday.

TT women were outclassed 3-0 by the eventual winners Guatemala in the semi-final. In the doubles, Priyanka Khellawan and Imani Edwards-Taylor were beaten 3-0 (11:1; 11:4; 11:5) by Mabelyn Enriquez/ Lucia Cordero. Jenny Cux won 3-1 (11:5; 6:11; 11:5; 11:7) against Chloe Fraser to make It 2-0 in the match. Then, Cordero closed off the match 3-0 (1:11; 11:9; 11:4) against Edwards-Taylor.

TT men’s team lost to the home team Guyana 3-2 in an enthralling encounter for the fifth and sixth position. The TT pair of Derron Douglas and Aaron Wilson were defeated 3-0 in the doubles by Jonathan Van Lange and Elishaba Johnson (11:2; 11:3; 11:8).

Shemar Britton added to their advantage dismissing Yuvraaj Dookram 3-0 (11:4; 11:4; 12:10). Douglas pulled a game back winning against Johnson 3-0 (11:5; 12:10; 11:2). Dookram tied it up 2-2 with a 3-0 sweeping of Van Lange (11:8; 11:8; 12:10). The deciding match between Britton and Wilson was one-sided as the Guyanese won easily 3-0 (11;7; 11:7; 11:7). Venezuela defeated Guatemala 3-0 in the final.

On Monday the focus was shifted to the 63rd Caribbean Region Table Tennis Federation (CRTTF) Championships which began at the same venue with the men’s and women’s singles events.

Wilson and Douglas advanced to the knock-out round after finishing runners-up in their respective groups.

Wilson was close to pulling off the upset of his life, coming up against two-time Olympian, 200th World Ranked and tournament favourite Cuban Jorge Campos. He had a 5-2 lead in the last set but was he beaten 2-3 (11:9; 7:11; 2:11; 11:8; 9:11). He later rebounded to sweep Guyanese Paul David 3-0 (11:9; 11:6; 11:9) to extend his tournament to the next round.

Douglas lost to Cuban Adrian Perez 3-1 (8:11; 9:11; 11:9; 4:11) but defeated former Caribbean champion Barbadian Trevor Farley 3-0 (11:5; 11:9; 11:6) to secure qualification into the next round. However, Dookram placed in a tricky group lost his two matches against Puerto Rican Birriel 3-0 (9:11; 6:11; 7:11) and Guyanese Van Lange revenged his defeat earlier in the team to win 3-0 (9:11; 7:11; 16:18).

Khellawan rebounded from a 3-0 loss against Puerto Rican Daniely Rios to upset Guyanese Priscilla Greaves 3-2 (11:8, 11:13; 11:7; 8:11; 11:6) in a thriller to move on to the next rounds. Fraser followed in the same fashion as her teammate needing a 3-2 (11:5; 9:11; 8:11; 11:9; 11:5) victory over St Lucian Zarianne Anthony to qualify for the next rounds after both players lost to Cuban Idalys Lovet. Edwards- Taylor lost her two matches against stronger opponents Guyanese Chelsea Edgehill (3-0) and Dominican Republic`s Shary Munoz (3-1).