TTO basketballers stun Brazil to reach Pan Am semis

TEAM TTO’s men’s 3x3 basketball team shone brightest among the contingent at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, on Sunday, shocking Brasil 20-19 in one of the day’s big upsets.

Captain Moriba De Freitas played nearly the entire ten-minute encounter and was clinical, sinking his only free throw and two field goals. Star forward Akheel Boyd led all scorers with 11 points, sinking eight of 18 shots. Boyd’s brother Ahkeem Boyd scored four points, while Chike Augustine also played his part with two points.

TTO qualified out of the group stage after a 22-15 victory over the Dominican Republic in the first match on Saturday and a 21-6 defeat to Puerto Rico in the second.

TTO will face a daunting task in a clash against the USA in the semifinal Monday afternoon.

TTO were represented in swimming by Nikoli Blackman and Zarek Wilson. Blackman placed fourth in the men’s 200m freestyle B final, while Wilson placed sixth in the men’s 100m butterfly B final.

Blackman clocked one minute, 52.93 seconds, behind race winner Joaquin Vargas of Peru, who finished in 1:50.75. Brazil’s Fernando Scheffer (1:51.21) and Mexico’s Hector Ruvalcaba (1:52.39) rounded off the podium spots.

Blackman enjoyed a stronger swim in the earlier heat, clocking 1:51.88, which placed 13th overall in the preliminaries and out of contention for a medal in the A final.

Wilson, touched the wall in 54.61 seconds in the men's 100m butterfly B final, with Colombia’s Esnaider Reales taking the win in 53.87 seconds.

Wilson placed fourth in the morning heat in 54.74 seconds.

Wilson is scheduled to return to the pool for the men’s 100m backstroke heats on Monday morning, while Blackman will also challenge the men’s 100m freestyle heats. Blackman will also contest the preliminary stage of the men’s 50m freestyle on Tuesday.

Cherrel Thompson, TT's lone female swimmer, is scheduled for heat three in the women’s 50m freestyle on Tuesday.

TTO was represented on Sunday in badminton with Chequeda de Boulet and Marc Marcano teaming in the mixed doubles badminton round of 16. They fought valiantly but were defeated 2-0 (21-15, 21-18) against Chile’s Alonso Medel Araya and Vania Diaz Conejero.

Individually, de Boulet bowed out at the round-of-16 stage, and finished ninth overall following a 2-0 loss to independent athlete Nikte Sotomayor Ovando. De Boulet initially struggled but improved throughout the match losing the two games 21-9 and 21-18.

She advanced from the round of 32 on Saturday, avenging a first-game loss to beat Nicaragua’s Daniela Hernandez Cativo 2-1 (9-21, 21-10, 23-10).

Marcano was eliminated in the round-of-32 stage of the men’s individual event, losing 2-0 (9-21, 8-21) to Adriano Viale of Peru and finished with a rank of 17th overall.

TT endured a rough day in women’s and men’s boxing,with no athlete managing to progress beyond the round-of-16 stage.

In women’s boxing, Tiana Guy (60kg), silver medallist at the AMBC Championships in Colombia, suffered a three-round five-point defeat to Angie Valdes of Colombia.

Aaron Prince was left to save TT blushes, but also bowed out in the men’s 71kg division, losing 5-0 to Junior Peka Petanqui of Canada. Prince scored the only knockdown of the bout but was otherwise second best to Petanqui.