Rheann Chung, Chloe Fraser cruise into round of 16 at Caribbean Table Tennis Champs

VETERAN TT player Rheann Chung and fellow standout player Chloe Fraser cruised into the round of 16 phase of the women's singles competition when the 2025 Caribbean Regional Table Tennis Championships continued at the Sir Garfield Sobers Sports Gymnasium in Wildey, Barbados, on June 20.

The impressive Fraser won all three of her opening round matches to top group eight, while Chung won two of her three matches to seal a second-place finish behind Puerto Rico's Kristal Melendez in group seven. After her 3-1 win over Arianna Estrella on June 19, Fraser rattled off a big win over Fabiola Diaz after press time on the same day. After dropping the first set 12-10, Fraser roared back to win the remaining three 11-9, 18-16, 11-6 to cap a fine performance.

To conclude her fine showing in the group, Fraser topped St Vincent and the Grenadines player Leah Cumberbatch 3-0 on June 20 to finish with a perfect record in group play.

Meanwhile, after strolling past home player Anthonette Riley 3-0 in her first match, Chung suffered a 3-0 loss to Melendez in her second match as she went down 8-11, 5-11, 9-11. The wily Chung bounced back in her last group game, though, defeating Dominican Republic's Eva Brito 3-0 in a contest which was intriguing throughout. Chung registered a 13-11, 11-9, 11-8 win to relegate Brito to third spot in the group.

From 7 pm on June 21, Fraser will meet Antigua and Barbuda's Stuti Kashyap in her round of 16 clash, with Chung carded to face Cuba's Estela Crespo who topped group four in convincing fashion ahead of TT's Jordan Thong and Barbados' Kenady King. Thong was unable to advance past the group stage which was the same fate suffered by countrywoman Imani Edwards-Taylor who placed third in group six.

In the men's singles side of the draw, the trio of Yuvraaj Dookram, Derron Douglas and Aaron Wilson all advanced to the round of 32 which will also be contested on June 21. However, TT's Malik Gopaul was unable to progress beyond the group stage after finishing in the cellar position in group ten. After press time on June 19, Douglas, Wilson and Dookram all registered victories to help their cause, with the latter pulling off an exciting 3-2 comeback victory over Aruba's Shaofeng Xie.

Meanwhile, in mixed doubles action on June 20, a pair of TT teams made it past the round of 16 before eventually succumbing to Puerto Rican opposition in the quarterfinal round.

The team of Fraser and Wilson got by the Vincentian team 3-0 in the round of 16, before falling 3-0 to Brianna Burgos and Angel Naranjo in the quarters. The team of Douglas and Edwards-Taylor got by their Barbados counterparts in the round of 16, but had a heartbreak 3-2 loss to Oscar Birriel and Alondra Rodriguez in the subsequent round. The TT pair opened up a 2-1 lead, but the Puerto Ricans rallied to win the last two sets 11-9, 11-5 to claim victory. Both Puerto Rican teams then lost to Cuban opposition in the semis.

TT are set to commence men's and women's doubles action on June 21.