Guyana strikes gold at 21stCaribbean Darts Championships

BY: DELVON MC EWAN

Sudesh “Kerry” Fitzgerald and Luis Ramirez-Merlano struck gold for Guyana as they earned the top spots in the Men’s Doubles of the 21st Caribbean Cup which was held in Barbados from July 9 to 17.
On Sunday Fitzgerald won the individual single title and later teamed up with Ramirez- Merlano to take the men’s doubles crown. Wins in these two categories along with a few other top finishes help Guyana to sixth place out of a total of nine teams.
Apart from the men’s double title and the single title, female player Jaswantie Hiralall was outstanding for Guyana in the blind draw; where randomly selected competitors played for top honours. She finished as runner up.

At the conclusion of the tournament Fitzgerald was named the event’s Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Fitzgerald spoke to Guyana Times Sport upon the team’s arrival at the Eugene F. Correia Airport and said, “Fitzgerald said it feels good to be a winner and hard work has paid off.” He informed that he will now be preparing for international tournaments later in the year.
Hiralall acknowledge it was a very competitive tournament, but felt she could have done better and will be working on her game the next time around.
Florida was crowned champions of the event with 113 points, second place went to Bahamas who finished with 99pts and host Barbados claimed third with 76 points. The other teams finished in the following order, Trinidad and Tobago 73 pts, Jamaica 67 pts, Guyana 66 pts, Cayman Islands 60 pts, Belize 56 pts and Turks and Caicos 24 pts.
The points were gathered from performances in the following categories; Mixed Doubles, Women’s Doubles, Men’s Doubles, Mixed Triples, Women’s Singles and Men’s Singles. Guyana finished sixth in the individual category with 18 points and fifth in the team division with 48 points for their eventual grand total of 66 points.
The team arrived yesterday at the Eugene Correia Airport at 14.00h just over a week after they departed Guyana for Barbados on July 8 to compete in the Americas/Caribbean Cup.
A total of thirteen players, eight males and five females made up Guyana’s team; Jamwant Bhupan; (Manager/ Player); Sudesh Fitzgerald (Coach/Captain), Luis Merlano (Assistant coach/player), Marvin Yaw(coach/ player), Lallchand Rambharose, Nicholas Seetaram, Adrian Damon, Terence Joseph, Mary Correia, Jaswantie Hiralall, Victorine Chandro and Melissa Smartt.
Prior to their departure, the national team utilized the Malteenoes Sports Club Pavilion three times per week for training. This was done to ensure the players were prepared to compete. The tournament is held once biennially in the Caribbean or in Florida.

Countries that are usual participants are Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad, Jamaica
Bahamas, Turk and Caicos, Florida, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Belize and Canada.