Carenage Blasters win Magic Mist table tennis title

Carenage Blasters whipped Queen`s Park 3-0 to be crowned champions of the inaugural Magic Mist Group Table Tennis Spin Cup Series 2023, at the National Racquet Centre, Tacarigua.

National Under-15 player Gabriel John surprised QPCC`s Javier King with an emphatic 3-0 (11:8, 15:13, 11:9) sweeping of the Classifieds A1 Division bronze medallist. Luc O`Young extended the lead to 2-0 for Carenage Blasters when he defeated Abraham Francis 3-1 (11:6, 7:11, 11:5, 11:9). O`Young was awarded the MVP as he played all his 11 matches unbeaten. Blasters' Abhai Lal had to dig deep to overcome national player Imani Edwards-Taylor in the final match. However, Lal persevered 3-2 (11:9, 12:10, 8:11, 9:11, 11:6) to seal the victory.

In the semi-final round, O`Young swept Jean Marc Lee Fai of WASA 3-0 (11:8, 11:8, 11:9) for a 1-0 lead. However, Riad Abasali levelled for WASA by defeating John 3-1 (11:8, 4:11, 11:5, 11:9). Lal then made light work of Joel Henry beating him 3-0 (11:4, 11:3, 11:9) to give Blasters the 2-1 lead. Then, O’ Young sealed the victory with a 3-1 (6:11, 11:8, 11:5, 11:5) victory over Abasali.

In the other semi, King gave QPCC the 1-0 lead when he got past Jamali Mauge of Blasters II 3-1 (11:6, 11:4, 9:11, 11:5). Nicholas O`Young levelled the series 1-1 when he beat Abraham Francis 3-0 (11:6, 11:5, 11:5). Edwards-Taylor outclassed Nikoli Barbour-Alexis in a thriller 3-2 (11:7, 11:7, 5:11, 9:11, 11:3) to retake the lead 2-1.

Nicholas O`Young played unbeaten on the night winning against King 3-0 (11:5, 11:9, 11:8), setting up a showdown between Francis and Mauge. The more experienced Francis bounced back from his earlier defeat to eventually lead his team to victory 3-1 (11:9, 9:11, 11:9, 12:10).

Blasters II defeated Wasa 3-0 to earn the bronze medal.