Trinidad and Tobago U11 boys bag regional ping pong silver

TRINIDAD and Tobago’s Under-11 boys’ team captured silver at the Caribbean Regional Table Tennis Federation’s Mini and pre-Cadet Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on July 3.

In the team final, the local pair of Zayden Sagramsingh and Tristan Soomarie went down 3-1 to Puerto Rico B in a well-fought match.

Soomarie won the opening singles tie 7-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-7, 11-8 against Kennuel Arroyo, but Sagramsingh lost 13-15, 8-11, 13-15 versus Ian Garcia in the second.

The TT duo then went down 3-11, 11-8, 9-11, 9-11 in the doubles before Kennuel dispatched Sagramsingh 4-11, 6-11, 9-11 to win the gold medal

Earlier in the day, the TT duo clawed back from a game down to trump Puerto Rico A 3-1 in the semi-final.

Soomarie lost the singles opener 8-11, 5-11, 7-11 to Ryan Rivera but Sagramsingh levelled the match with a battling 12-14, 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 11-7 win over Carlos Medina in the second.

Soomarie and Soogramsingh then joined forces to defeat the Puerto Rican team 5-11, 11-7, 11-8, 13-11 in the doubles contest before the latter trumped Rivera 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 6-11 to win the match.

Additionally, the U13 boys lost their team quarter-final 1-3 against Cuba on July 2. TT’s Daniel Bhim gave them a winning start as he bounced back from 8-11, 8-11 down to regain control with a 11-3, 11-9, 11-8 result in the next three games over Yadiel Hernandez.

TT’s Mateo Mollineau lost the second contest 0-3 to Andy Maqueira and then the TT duo went down 1-3 in the doubles. Bhim then lost the singles 1-3 to Maqueira.

The other TT U13 boys team, comprising Jared Simon and Aaron Noel, also lost their quarter-final test 0-3 against Puerto Rico B.