The final day of action in the 61st Seniors Caribbean Table Tennis Championship culminated on Sunday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Homestretch Avenue, as team Guyana did fairly well to finish second in the competition on 750 points behind winners, Dominican Republic, who finished on 1530 points.
Starting off the day in the women’s singles main draw, team Guyana showed no signs of fear in the early stages of the best of seven games. In the first matchup Guyana’s very own Natalie Cummings defeated Jamaica’s Dadrian Lewis 3-0 as she won 11-4, 11-9 and 11-7. Also winning in their respective categories were Trenace Lowe who defeated Janae Lewis of Barbados 3-1 and Jody Ann Blake also winning against her Bajan opponent 3-1.
Team Guyana poses with Director of Sport Christopher Jones and Men’s Coach Sydney Christophe following their campaign
But, despite three Guyanese qualifying for the next round, it was Trenace Lowe who stood out among the rest to book her spot in the semifinal against Dominican Republic’s Esmerlyn Castro. However, Lowe was no match for Castro as she lost 4-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-6, and 11-7) to settle for third in the competition, while in semifinal two, Daniela Fonseca of Cuba was also able to seal her spot in the finals as she defeated Dominican Republic’s Eva Brito 4-2.
In the final it was an intense battle as the Cuban-Dominican Republic show had the fans on the edge of their seats. But it was Fonseca who walked out victorious in the end 4-3, after seven strenuous rounds to take the gold.
In the men’s singles main draw, out of the seven Guyanese participating only Shemar Britton was able to qualify for the semifinal. Britton battled it out with Puerto Rico’s Hector Berrios in a one sided affair to lose 4-1 and settle for third. In the matchup Berrios came back to win the first round 11-8 but managed to hand Britton the second round 11-8. However, with the match tied on 1-1, Berrios dug deep and dominated the Guyanese winning the other three rounds 11-7, 11-9 and 11-10, to survive Britton’s scare in the last two rounds. Heading into the finals Berrios duked it out with Emil Santos of Dominican Republic who easily defeated the Puerto Rican 4-0 winning 11-9, 11-6, 11-8 and 11-10 to give Dominican Republic another gold medal.
Coming in at third overall was Barbados on 640, Cuba 600, Puerto Rico 310, Jamaica 250 and Trinidad & Tobago on 70. Guadeloupe, Martinique, St Vincent & The Grenadines and St Lucia finished without scoring any points in the competition.
The 62nd Seniors Caribbean Table Tennis Championship will be held in Havana Cuba in 2020.
