Guyana have begun their medal count at this year’s Caribbean Senior Table Tennis Championships with two bronze medals in the teams’ events.
The Guyanese women booked their spot in the semifinal earlier on Tuesday after defeating Barbados, and the men did so on Wednesday evening against the same opposition.
In the men’s semifinal, Britton went down to Cuba’s Adrian Perez 2-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-4 in the first game. Elishaba Johnson lost to Livan Martinez by the same 3-1 score: 11-8, 7-11, 8-11, 2-11; while Joel Alleyne’s fortunes were the same against Rene Mendez: 11-7, 11-6, 11-3.
The women’s team also faltered against Cuba in the semifinals. Estela Crespo got the better of Nathalie Cummings 12-10, 11-5, 12-10; Rosalba Aguiar narrowly got past Chelsea Edghill in a 5- setter: 14-12, 11-4, 8-11, 9-11, 11-8; and Karla Gonzalez overcame Thuraia Thomas 11-3, 11-4, 11-6 for Cuba to advance to the finals.
Though the Guyanese teams missed out in their semifinal fixtures, they were guaranteed bronze medals by virtue of making it to the final four. The Guyanese athletes now turn their attention to the Singles Division of the competition, which was set to serve off on Thursday evening.
In the Women’s Division, Jasmine Billingy faced off with Cuba’s Estal Crespo, Edghill took on Dominican Republic’s Eva Brito, and Thomas battled Dominican Republic’s Yasiris Ortiz.
Over in the Men’s Division, Alleyne will face off with Puerto Rico’s Oscar Birriel, Britton takes on Aruba’s Shaofeng Xie, and Johnson battles Dominican Republic’s Abit Tejada.
The singles action continues today with Nathalie Cummings coming up against Puerto Rico’s Fabiola Diaz, while Thuraia Thomas does battle with Antigua and Barbuda’s Stuti Kashyap.
Also slated for today, Britton takes on Barbados’ Mark Dowell, Niran Bissu challenges Barbados’ Tyrese Knight, Billingy takes on Trinidad and Tobago’s Rheann Chung, and Cummings springs into action, this time against Trinidad’s Jordan Thong.
It was be an intense day for the Guyanese team as Mixed Doubles fixtures are also scheduled for later in the evening. There, Britton and Edghill will team up while Alleyne and Cummings join forces.