Dookram, Joseph win men's, women's ping pong titles

Queen’s Park Cricket Club’s (QPCC) Yuvraaj Dookram and Brittany Joseph were crowned men and women’s singles champions of the Trinbago Table Tennis Open Championships, which served off at the National Racquet Centre in Tacarigua over the weekend.

After playing unbeaten over Saturday and Sunday, Dookram battled to his first singles title in six years after getting past Carenage Blasters’ Luc O’Young 3-0 in the final. Dookram won 11-7, 11-6, 11-5.

In their respective semi-final bouts, Dookram was pushed to the limit, but eventually defeated club-mate Joshua Maxwell 13-11, 13-11, 13-11, while O’Young bettered another QPCC player, Abraham Francis, 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 11-2.

Dokkram was pleased to be back in winner's row.

"Since returning fully to competition at the latter end of 2022, I have been working towards getting my ranking up, making the national team and winning more titles.

"My QPCC teammates and coach are keeping me in good form and I'm glad that the work I'm putting in paid off.

"I am dedicating this title to my cousin Amit Dookram, who was in an accident earlier this year and is on the road to recovery."

Fourth seed Joseph, in the women’s equivalent, did well to claw her way back from two games down to oust top seed Priyanka Khellawan of PowerGen in the title match.

Khellawan started strongly and won the first two games 11-7, 11-6. However, a determined Joseph turned things around and won the third game 11-4. She then rallied to a close 11-9 win in the fourth, then a dominant 11-4 triumph in the fifth and final game, to snatch the crown.

In the semi-finals, Joseph got past second seed Aleena Edwards (UTT) 11-8, 6-11, 11-1, 11-6. Khellawan eliminated veteran Merle Baggoo (QPCC) 11-6, 11-7, 11-9.

Khellawan, however, rebounded in the girls’ U19 to capture top honours. In the final, she triumphed 10-12, 11-7, 11-3, 11-4 over Tunapuna High School’s Lyllana Boodhan.

In the girls' U15 singles, QPCC’s Jinai Samuel came back from a first-game loss to win 3-1 and lift the title. In the final against Boodhan, Samuel slipped 6-11 in the opener but rebounded to top the next three games 11-9, 14-12, 11-6.

Additionally, in the girls’ U11 round robin, Carenage Blasters’ Elizabeth Rajah won her three match without dropping a game. She emerged 3-0 victor against St Peter’s Jaya Ishmael and PowerGen’s Hidayah Mohammed and Zuri Coomar.

Mohammed bagged silver after winning two of her three ties. Coomar and Ishmael completed the top four respectively.

Other final results

Girls U9 – Hidaya Mohammed (PowerGen) def Zuri Coomar (PowerGen) 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9

Boys U11 – Matteo Mollineau (Crusaders) def Zayden Sagramsingh 6-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-2

Girls U13 – Jannah Mohammed def Jinai Samuel 12-10, 8-11, 11-3, 7-11, 11-3

Boys U13– Joshua Bhim (PowerGen) def Matteo Mollineau (Crusaders) 15-13, 11-7, 11-4

Boys U19 – Nicholas O’Young (Blasters) def Amber Mohammed (UTT) 11-7, 11-6, 12-10

Masters – Anthony Maquis (Oxford) def Wayne Audit (Hawks) 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-5