…Fung-A-Fat second in Plate Championship
…Abrams advances to 400M semis
Wednesday was not the best day for the Guyanese team at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, as they experienced numerous defeats in several disciplines.
However, amidst all the disappointment for the Guyanese athletes, who fought valiantly, Mary Fung-A-Fat and Aliyah Abrams shone brightly.
Athletics
It was a tough day on the track for the Guyanese athletes, with glimmers of hope coming from Aliyah Abrams, who progressed to the semifinal of the Women’s 400M event.
Aliyah Abrams participated in Heat 2 of the Women’s 400m event, and raced to secure her spot in the event’s semifinal with a time of 52.23s, placing second to Canada’s Kyra Constantine, who got home in 52.03s.
However, racing in Heat 1 of the same event, Kenisha Phillips was not so fortunate, as she clocked 54.08s, which was good enough for 6th place in the Heat, but her time was not fast enough to get her into the semifinal.
In the male version of the event, Arinze Chance also missed out on a semifinal spot, as he crossed the line in 47.63s to place fifth in Heat 5. The Heat was won by Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga in 44.89s.
In the middle distance, Quamel Prince also did not find favour, finishing 6th in Heat 3 with a time of 1:50.82 in the 800M, as compared to England’s Ben Pattinson’s 1:48.00, who won the Heat.
Later in the day, it was time for the blue ribband event, the 100M, and Emanuel Archibald and Jasmine Abrams took to the track. Running in semifinal 1, Archibald clocked 10.43s for 6th place, thus being unable to qualify for the coveted final. Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala eventually became the Commonwealth Men’s 100m champion, clocking 10.02 for first in the final.
The script was almost the same in the distaff, where Abrams finished 7th in semifinal 2. Abrams crossed the line in 11.60s, as compared to Elaine Thompson- Herah’s 11.05s for the semifinal win. The Jamaican went on to take the Commonwealth gold with a time of 10.95s in the final.
Boxing
Guyana had high hopes of bagging another Commonwealth Boxing medal in 32 years, with Keevin Allicock and Desmond Amsterdam fighting their way into the quarterfinals of the Featherweight and Middleweight classes respectively. However, those hopes were dashed when both boxers missed out on advancing to the automatic medal round.
Keevin Allicock’s fight against Canada’s Keoma- Ali Al-Ahmadieh was arguably 50-50, with Al- Ahmadieh winning the first round and Allicock winning the second. However, the 3rd was judged in the Canadian’s favour and was met with jeers from the crowd. Allicock lost on split decision 4-1.
Meanwhile, Amsterdam’s bout against Australia’s Callum Peters was stopped in the second round by the referee, since the Guyanese had sustained an injury. As such, Peters was awarded the victory.
Squash
Despite a loss in the Plate final of the Women’s Singles Squash competition, Guyana’s Mary Fung-A-Fat clinched a silver medal on Wednesday.
Fung-A-Fat went down 3-0 (7-11, 13-11, 2-1), to India’s Sunayna Sara Kuruvilla in the finals of the Women’s Plate competition at the Commonwealth Games.
Later in the day, Fung-A-Fat had the privilege of receiving her medal from legendary Squash player Jahangir Khan of Pakistan.
Khan is famous for his dominance of the Squash World Championships, where he ruled supreme from 1981-1985. He was also crowned world champion in 1988.
Fung-A-Fat will now partner with Shomari Wiltshire to take on the Malaysian pair of Ainaa Amani and Addeen Idrakie in the Mixed-Doubles Round-of-32.
The Khalil siblings, Jason-Ray and Ashely, will also be in action today when they face Wales’ Petre Creed and Emily Whitlock.
