A sense of euphoria prevailed in Guyana and among the diaspora on Friday night as Guyanese collectively celebrated Chelsea Edghill’s victory in the opening match of her Olympic campaign. And although her campaign came to an end on Saturday morning, support for Guyana’s athletes remain undiminished.
Often referred to as Guyana’s best bet for a medal this year, Keevin Allicock bowed out of the contention early on Saturday morning following a unanimous loss on points in his Round of 32 bout.
Chelsea Edghill
Paired with Alexy de la Cruz of the Dominican Republic for their featherweight encounter, Allicock, boxing out of the red corner, faced an opponent who was taller and lankier than he was, and who often used his longer reach to land punches, giving Allicock more work to do in regard to his speed.
A spirited start from both pugilists eventually saw de la Cruz landing a handful of punches which led to him winning the first round of their three-round bout.
Eventually, the five judges each awarded Allicock a nine and de la Cruz a 10 for that first round.
Allicock produced a better showing in the second round, but the judges still recorded him as follows: 9, 8,9,9,9.
And although Allicock was unstoppable in the third round, landing a series of hooks and jabs to totally dominate his opponent, the judges recorded for him scores as follows: 10, 10, 10, 10, 9.
So impressive was Allicock’s performance in the third Round that de la Cruz lost his footing and crashed briefly in the ring with just seconds remaining in the bout. Nevertheless, De la Cruz was awarded the following points: 9, 9, 9, 9, 10.
The points tallied to 28-29, 27-29, 28-29, 28-29 and 27-30, all in De la Cruz’s favour, which saw de la Cruz winning the contest and Allicock’s campaign coming to an end.
Action in the featherweight bout between Keevin Allicock and Alexy de la Cruz
In a disappointing turn, Edghill’s run came to an end approximately one hour after on Saturday morning, as she suffered a heart-rending loss in her Round of 32 match in the Women’s Singles event, despite fighting valiantly.
Edghill, who played to an emphatic 4-1 victory on Friday night against Fiji’s Sally Yee, was then matched up with Yubin Shin of South Korea for the next round in the women’s singles.
Their first match got off to an exciting start, with the Guyanese and the South Korean often tied on points; however, the 17-year-old Shin soon pulled away from Edghill to win the first set 11-7.
The second game was quite similar to the first in that Shin came from behind to win the set 11-8. Guyana’s Edghill could not find the formula to stop Shin in the third set, as the South Korean won 11-1.
The decorated Guyana player found her fight in the fourth set, leading the game at one point, but Shin turned things around for her fourth straight win.
With Allicock and Edghill being out of the running in their respective disciplines, Guyana will have to wait until Tuesday to see their countrymen and women in action.
Keevin Allicock landing a punch
Starting on Tuesday July 27 are the Heats for the Men’s 100m freestyle swim, meaning second-time Olympian Andrew Fowler will get his first taste of the Tokyo Games.
Jasmine Abrams will take to the track on Thursday, July 29 for the Women’s 100m event, while Guyana’s youngest Olympian, Aleka Persaud, will also compete at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre in the 50m freestyle on Friday.
In the Men’s 100m event, Emmanuel Archibald will be in action on Friday, July 30. Guyana’s final athlete, Aliyah Abrams, will take to the Track on Monday, August 2, for the 400m event.
All of Guyana’s athletes are wished the very best of luck as each pursues a dream to bring Guyana glory.
