Trinidad and Tobago boys finish sixth in Caribbean ping pong team event

Trinidad and Tobago's boys Under-19 team finished sixth in the team event at this year's Caribbean Youth Table Tennis Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on April 25.

Up against St Lucia in the fifth to sixth playoff, TT showed fight but were bettered 2-3 by their regional rivals. TT's Samuel Humphreys lost the opener 1-11, 4-11, 3-11 but Malik Gopaul bounced back in the second to defeat Joshua Lubin 11-3, 4-11, 13-11, 4-11, 11-7.

Nicholas O'Young sent TT ahead in the third after he got past Dawitt Nurse 11-7, 11-7, 6-11, 6-11, 11-6. St Lucia pulled one back in the fourth as Gopaul was beaten 5-11, 3-11, 7-11 courtesy De Andre Calderon. And in the decisive game, Humphreys was ousted 7-11, 9-11, 11-8, 6-11.

Meanwhile, the U15 girls' team rebounded from their 0-3 loss to Guyana on April 24 to clinch a 3-2 win over Jamaica in their second group one match on April 25.

Lyllana Boodhan gave TT the go ahead by defeating Mystique Sharpe 11-8, 11-6, 11-3 but Jannah Mohammed fell 3-11, 7-11, 7-11 to Keeara Whyte in the second.

Jerisse Elder's 11-8, 11-7, 11-4 win over Kayan Denton saw TT regain control for a short time as Boodhan went down 4-11, 4-11, 7-11 to Whyte in the fourth, to force a decider. There, Mohammed returned to edge Sharpe 12-10, 11-9, 11-8 and seal the win.

In the U19 boys' team event, TT were nipped 2-3 against St Lucia

On Friday, U19 singles action resumes with Taylor-Edwards, Thong, Fraser and Khellawan representing the girls and Gopaul, Humphreys and O'Young for the boys.

U15 mixed doubles action also serves off with McIntosh and Boodhan up against Dominican Republic's Eydhrian Paulino and Yesmeily Guerrero. The U19s also get under way as Khellawan and Edwards-Taylor face off against Guyana's Thuraia Thomas and Akira Watson.

Friday's Singles Matches

U19 Girls - Imani Edwards-Taylor (TT) vs Larimar Hernandez (Dom Rep); Jordan Thong (TT) vs Yeilyn Capellan (Dom Rep); Priyanka Khellawan (TT) vs Vianelkis Fernandez (Dom Rep); Chloe Fraser (TT) vs Shary Munoz (Dom Rep); Edwards-Taylor vs Karecia Peterkin (Jamaica); Thong vs Josielienne Boekhoudt (Aruba); Khellawan vs Gilianie Avila (Puerto Rico); Fraser vs Thuraia Thomas (Guyana)

U19 Boys - Malik Gopaul (TT) vs Cristopher Rodriguez (Dom Rep); Samuel Humphreys (TT) vs Dewayne Dinnoh-Newland (Grenada); Nicholas O'Young (TT) vs Kareem Powell (Jamaica); Gopaul vs Mikail Mark (Barbados); Humphreys vs Dawitt Nurse (St Lucia); O'Young vs Antonio Hamilton (Barbados); O'Young vs Ethan Fan (Aruba)