Pan American Games 2023: Fighting Britton, Edghill miss out in mixed doubles

It was a valiant effort from Guyana’s racquet-wielding pair of Chelsea Edghill and Shemar Britton on Sunday morning in Santiago, Chile as competition in the discipline of table tennis commenced at the 2023 Pan American Games.
However, fate was not on the Guyanese side on Sunday, as the duo went down 1-4 to the Independent Athletes Team in the mixed doubles round of 32 event.
During the five-match game, Britton and Edghill found themselves with several bursts of commanding plays, but the Independent Athletes, represented by Mabelyn Enriquez and Hector Gatica, maintained just enough momentum to pressure the Guyanese duo.
Enriquez and Gatica took the first three sets 11-8, 11-7, 11-8; the numbers truly reflecting Britton and Edghill’s fighting spirit when they found themselves trailing.
However, the pair would dominate the fourth 11-7. In an effort to push their tally to two, Edghill and Britton led the fifth set early , but the Independent Athletes pair would fight back to take the set and the win 11-8.

Following the game, the Guyanese duo were ‘on the same page’ regarding their slow start in the match.
“Today was rough, I feel like we never got started, keep trying and never got started. We came out slow and we just stayed slow throughout the match,” Britton shared.
Edghill later related, “Yeah, when warming up it was okay, like the temperature in the warm-up, it wasn’t too bad, but then we had to stop and wait for the walkout. So, it got a bit cold, so it was a little harder to get the feeling right in your hands and feeling the ball and the racquet.
“It was a really slow start. We started playing from behind when it was like 10-6, 10-7 and that didn’t serve us any good. But when we got our rhythm, we won a set. We just kind of fell down tactically in the last set after leading a few points and trying to get a 3-2 comeback and it just didn’t happen,” she added.
Coach Idi Lewis was of the same opinion, stating, “I honestly think that we’re actually the better side, but I think the problem is, we didn’t get comfortable early enough in the match and that’s how we end up getting that result.
“As the match progressed, they started playing better. So, that means that they start get a little more comfortable with the environment, it’s very cold in there and we’re definitely not used to playing under those conditions, but the match get better, they started playing better. So, that augurs well for the upcoming matches in the singles,” the Coach further stated.
Meanwhile, the duo will now turn their attention to the women’s and men’s singles’ events, which will serve off today.
Britton will come up against Daniel Gonzalez of Puerto Rico in the men’s event, while in the distaff, Edghill will face Mexico’s Yadira Silva – both in the Round of 32.
Turning his attention to the singles’ events, the Coach shared the positive takeaways that the duo can carry into today’s games.
“Just take what we learn from the mixed doubles and just transfer it. Take the positives and move on to the singles. It’s just about them being comfortable out there to actually play the way they normally play and execute the way they normally execute,” Lewis shared.
On the same topic, Edghill noted, “There were a few key parts of my game that improved and a lot of parts of my game that was working out on the court and I hope to use that in the matches tomorrow (today), because it would be a huge asset going forward.”
Meanwhile, Britton said about today’s singles’ event, “As you know, as everyone knows, Pan Am Games is a very tough competition. I just set myself small goals, play at my very best, you know make sure that everyone I play is held accounted well and let’s see what happens from there.” (Jemima Holmes)