Guyana’s male table tennis team also bagged a semifinal spot
It was a tough day out on Tuesday in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, for Team Guyana at the Caribbean Senior Table Tennis Championships, both trhe male and female teams suffering losses to Puerto Rico in the Teams’ division.
However, Guyana’s men’s and women’s team rebounded with victories against Aruba and Barbados on Wednesday morning to advance to the next rounds of their respective competitions.
In the men’s division, the trio of Shemar Britton, Elishaba Johnson and Joel Alleyne went down to Puerto Rico 3-0 on Tuesday afternoon. Angel Narango defeated Alleyne 11-5, 11-4, 11-2 in the first game, while Britton fought back for one set but still lost to Oscar Birriel 11-9, 9-11, 6- 11, 6-11. Johnson was later overcome by Jabdiel Torres 11-5, 14-12, 12- 10.
However, on Wednesday, Alleyne rallied long and hard against Aruba’s Rudy Raga to pull off a 3-2 win, 11-7, 11-4, 10-12, 9-11, 12-10. Britton cruised to victory against Shaofeng Xie 11-7, 11-5, 11-2, while Johnson did the same against Bryan Lopes 11-2, 11-9, 11-5. Britton later returned to down Raga 11-2, 11-4, 12-10 to help his team book passage to tonight’s quarterfinals.
Over in the women’s division, Nathalie Cummings started proceedings on Wednesday with an 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 defeat of Barbados’ Anthonette Riley, while Chelsea Edghill eased past Kenady King 11-4, 11-2, 11-3. Young Jasmine Billingy secured Guyana’s game winning 3rd victory by defeating Qodesh Weekes 12-10, 11-8, 11-8.
Guyana’s senior women’s table tennis team secured a semifinal spot
It was a vast improvement on Tuesday’s performance, in which they went down to powerhouses Puerto Rico 3-1. Puerto Rico’s Brianna Burgos outdid Cummings 11-7, 11-7, 11-4, while Thuraia Thomas went down to Alondra Rodriguez 11-4, 11-7, 11-2. Edghill brought up the lone victory of the game against Fabiola Diaz, winning that game 5-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-9. However, she was not as fortunate against Burgos, losing 11-5, 12-10, 11-8.
Both teams sprang back into action on Wednesday evening, with the men competing against Barbados in the Quarterfinals. There Guyana secured a 3-1 victory over Barbados to advance to the semifinals.
Barbados’ Tyrese Knight proved too much for Johnson to handle in the first match, and the Guyanese went down 11-3, 11-6, 11-1. However, Britton levelled the scores after defeating Mark Dowell 11-5, 11-2, 12-10. From there it was smooth sailing for the Guyanese team, as Alleyne extended the winning streak with a victory over Tre Riley 11-13, 11-4, 11-5, 11-7. Britton returned to seal the win against familiar foe Knight, overcoming him 11-8, 11-7, 11-7.
Meanwhile, the women took on Cuba in the semifinals later.
The Senior Championships will run until Sunday, April 21st.
