Chloe Fraser adds 2 silver at Caribbean Youth Table Tennis

Trinidad and Tobago closed off its 2024 Caribbean Youth Table Tennis Championships campaign with two silver medals on the final day on April 28, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Chloe Fraser was on the receiving end of both medals as she and compatriot Jordan Thong lost the Under-19 girls’ doubles final against Puerto Rican opposition.

Later on, Fraser fought hard to claim the top prize but was again beaten by another Puerto Rican player in the girls’ U19 singles final.

The final-day haul carried TT’s medal tally to four, having earned bronze in the U15 boys’ doubles and U19 girls’ doubles on Saturday.

Against Kristal Melendez and Alahia Medina in the gold medal doubles match, Fraser and Thong were beaten 6-11, 3-11, 8-11.

The TT pair defeated Puerto Rico’s Gillaine Avila and Yahira Young 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 in the semi-final to seal a title shot.

In the other semi, TT’s Priyanka Khellawan and Imano Edwards-Taylor lost their 1-3 tie against the eventual gold medallists, and finished joint third, earning bronze, alongside Avila and Young.

In the singles final against Melendez, Fraser put on a brazen display but the Puerto Rican edged her in a spectacular seven-set thriller. Fraser lost the opening set 8-11 but rallied to take the next two 11-8, 11-9.

Melendez dominated the fourth set and won 11-2 but Fraser’s resilience showed and she grabbed a 3-2 lead by winning the fifth 11-8. Melendez tied things up in the sixth with an 11-8 triumph, and the duo gave their all in the seventh and decisive set.

They matched each other point for point, up to 12 points each, but in the end, Melendez prevailed with a hard earned 14-12 win over a persistent Fraser.

In her semi-final on Saturday, Fraser showed grit when she emerged 4-3 victor over Medina; clawing back from a 5-11 opening set loss, to a 13-11, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9, 2-11, 12-10 triumph to seal a title shot.

The other bronze medal for TT came from the U15 boys’ doubles pair of TT’s Josiah Joseph and Sekel McIntosh. They lost to Dominican Republic 11-5, 11-3, 11-7 and finished joint third with St Lucia, who lost the other semi to Cuba.