Khaleel Asgarali, Derron Douglas, Jordan Thong shine at table tennis trials

Crusaders’ Khaleel Asgarali and QPCC’s Derron Douglas topped their respective groups in this year’s TT Table Tennis Association’s men’s national trials while QPCC’s Jordan Thong reigned supreme in the women’s division.

Both Asgarali and Douglas played unbeaten. The former got past club-mate Malik Gopaul 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 before defeating another club-mate in Anson Lowkie 3-1. Asgarali delivered an 11-6, 11-8, 11-6 result over PowerGen’s Josiah Joseph, before closing off his run with an 11-8, 11-2, 11-7 triumph agains Blasters’ Abhai Lal, followed by an 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 showing over PowerGen’s Jean Marc Lee Fai.

Later on, Douglas executed a similar performance to top his group. Douglas opened his campaign with a 11-0, 11-4, 11-8 win over Gopaul and then defeated Lowkie 11-9, 11-8, 11-13, 11-7.

In his third match, Douglas churned out an 11-7, 10-12, 11-6, 11-3 victory against Lowkie. His penultimate fixture saw him get past Lal 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 before completing his stint with a walkover win against Lee Jai.

In the women's category, Thong had an easier journey through the rounds as she snapped two wins on the board and two more via walkover. The QPCC athlete beat Blasters’ Elizabeth Rajah 3-2 (9-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-1, 12-10) and then defeated UTT’s Yzabelle Morris 3-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-6) to remain perfect.