South American Youth Games: Guyana’s 3×3 team struggles; chess players gain valuable experience

Guyana’s junior 3×3 basketball team endured a difficult outing at the South American Youth Games in Panama City, finishing winless in the group stage of the men’s competition, which was contested as a guest discipline at this year’s event.
Guyana placed fourth in Pool C after losing all three of their matches. They went down 14–17 to Venezuela and 9–21 to Brazil on Thursday, also losing 15–20 to Panama on Friday, ending with a 0–3 record and an average of 12.67 points per game. Despite the results, the team showed moments of competitiveness, particularly in the fixtures against Venezuela and Panama, where the margins were relatively close.
In chess, Guyana was represented in both the male and female rapid categories, with national champion Sachin Pitamber leading the men’s challenge. Over the two days of competition, Pitamber struggled for consistency against a strong field.

On Thursday, he secured a notable victory over Ecuador’s Christopher Garzon Zapatanga in Round Five but suffered losses in several earlier rounds, including defeats to Venezuela’s Christian Allen Leydenz and Argentina’s Ilan Schnaider.
On Friday, Pitamber’s campaign continued on a similar path, losing to Panama’s Andre Mendez Machado and Colombia’s Juan Jose Cano Alcaraz before managing a draw against Curacao’s Vaibhav Bedi in Round Nine.
In the female division, Guyana’s Italy Tonne-Chung also faced a challenging tournament. She was unable to secure a win across her matches, going down to opponents from Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, and Panama over the two days of play.
Overall, while both disciplines were not part of the core programme, Guyana’s participation provided valuable exposure for its young athletes against some of the top junior competitors in the region.