South American Games 2022: Bronze for Amsterdam & Allicock; table tennis players shift focus to singles

There were highs and lows to be witnessed for Guyana’s team at the 2022 South American Games on Monday, as fortunes swung in Asuncion, Paraguay. In fact, that was the way the weekend went for the teams that competed in boxing, table tennis, and squash.

Boxing
Boxing commenced on Saturday evening and instantaneously, Guyana were guaranteed at least two bronze medals at the 12th edition of the Games. However, the two boxers who made it to the semi-finals were both unable to better their bronze medal achievements.
Desmond Amsterdam and Keevin Allicock were both decisive in their quarter-final bouts to secure a spot in their respective semi-finals. As boxing goes, the top four fighters are awarded medals and as such, whether or not they prevail in their semi-final fights, the pair will walk away from the Games with bronze medals.

Amsterdam was the first pugilist on show, downing Venezuela’s Diego Andres Pereryra Mejia in a unanimous-decision victory. Next, Allicock prevailed in his featherweight bout against Peru’s Darwin Dario Perez by a similar unanimous decision.
However, Colin Lewis’s spilt decision result against Leodan Pezo Savoy of Peru saw the Peruvian gaining nods from three judges, as opposed to Lewis’ two. As such, Lewis fell out of medal contention in Paraguay.
In Monday evening’s semi-finals, Allicock was first slated to face Jean Carlos Caicedo Pachito of Ecuador. However, the result was soon listed as a walkover, with the Ecuadorian advancing to the final and the Guyanese having to settle for bronze.
Up to press time, no clarification as to what actually occurred was available and as such, Guyana Times Sport will provide the reason in a future publication.
On the other hand, Amsterdam’s bout against Benjamin Ruben Escudero Grimaux of Argentina commenced as planned. The Guyanese pugilist went punch for punch with his opponent, but when it came down to the judges, the Argentinian won unanimously 5-0. Immediately, those who viewed the fight live took to social media to express their dissatisfaction, but the judges’ decision is final.

Table tennis
Over on the table tennis courts, Guyana had an excellent start on Sunday, with several victories.
Shemar Britton and Chelsea Edghill teamed up for a mixed doubles victory over Bolivia’s Diego Avila and Andrea Terrazas 11-6, 11-5, 11-7.
Britton also tasted victory in the men’s doubles alongside Christopher Franklin. They defeated Eduardo Lizarazu and Fernando Fernandez of Bolivia 11-5, 7-11, 11-2, 11-7.
Meanwhile, it was a walk in the park for Edghill in her women’s singles match against Valeria Thaiz Zelada of Paraguay. Edghill won 11-6, 11-1, 11-5, 11-5.
Nathalie Cummings also prevailed in the women’s singles round of 32 over Peru’s Maria Maldonado 13-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-6.
Britton returned on Sunday evening to oust Paraguay’s David Leon from the men’s singles, after an 11-8, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 victory.
Monday commenced as a not-so-favourable day for the racquet wielders. First, Edghill and Britton found themselves on the losing side of a Round of 16 mixed doubles contest against Brazil. Guilgherme Teodoro and Caroline Kumahara defeated the Guyanese pair 11-6, 11-6, 11-6.
Hard luck transcended into the men’s doubles, where Paraguay’s men got the better of Britton and Franklin. Paraguay’s Marcello Aguire and Alejandro Toranzos won the first two sets 11-1, 11-8, before the Guyanese fought back to win the third set12-10. However, the home team prevailed in the fourth set 11-3, to win the match.
Edghill and Cummings later went down to Argentina’s Camila Arguelles and Candela Molero 11-6, 11-4, 11-7.
However, the table tennis team still have more to focus on with the Round of 16 for the men’s and women’s singles. In the women’s singles , Edghill will battle Peru’s Isabel Rosario Duffoo Guevara, while Cummings takes on Daniela Yolita Ortega Gomez of Chile.
Britton will take on Ecuador’s Jorge Alberto Miño Puga in the men’s category.

Squash
Guyana’s squash players took to the court on Monday morning for the women’s singles Round of 16 events. There, Nicolette Fernandes opened her account with a clean three-set victory over Pilar Etchechoury of Argentina. The match went 11-7, 11-3, 1-4.
Ashley Khalil did not find the same favour as her Guyanese compatriot, as she went down to Maria Caridadad Buenano Araque of Ecuador. Araque took the first set 11-5, but Khalil fought back in the second 11-2, Araque took the third 11-1, but the Guyanese took the fourth 11-8. However, in the final set, the Ecuadorian got the better of the Guyanese 11-8.
Up to press time, Fernandes was locked in battle with Brazil’s Tatiana Damasio Borges.