Wong advances, Mc Neil’s journey ends in quarterfinals

2019 Caribbean Mini and Pre Cadet Table Tennis Championships…

Colin Wong and Ebo Mc Neil were the Guyana racquet wielders to advance respectively to the quarterfinals of the boys’ 13years-and-under and 11years-and-under singles events in the 2019 Caribbean Mini and Pre Cadet Table Tennis Championships.

Mc Neil’s journey has, however, come to an end in his quarterfinal match, while Wong has advanced to the semi -finals.
Having enjoyed a fairytale outing in his debut at the games as he extended his quest for a medal for Guyana, Ebo McNeil was seeded 3 in group three of the boys’ 11years-and-under tournament, along with Sebastian Cruz of Puerto Rico, seeded 1; Geovanny Cruceta of the Dominican Republic, seeded two; and Samuel Garcia of the Dominican Republic, seeded 4.
Mc Neil commenced his journey on shaky grounds when he lost his first match to the top seed in the group, Puerto Rican Sebestian Cruz. However, in his second match, he came out with a never-say-die attitude when he faced the number two-seeded Geovanny Cruceta of the Dominican Republic in a must- win match. Things were not smooth sailing, since he trailed Cruceta by a 2-0 deficit, but with the fighting spirit of Guyana’s national animal, the jaguar, Ebo fought valiantly to reverse the situation, and won three straight matches to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat as he overcame Cruceta and advanced to the knockout round of 16, where he drew a bye into the quarterfinals.

Mc Neil was set to face number one seed Enrique Rios of Puerto Rico, to fight for a spot in the semifinals. However, his opponent proved too strong, thus Mc Neil’s journey ended with him failing to advance in the Boys’ under-11 quarterfinals, which he lost 0-3.
Colin Wong, seeded #1 in group 7, slowly came into form, winning his group matches against Andelson Acvedo of Dominican Republic, the number 2 seed, by a 3-1 margin, and Sameer Ali of Trinidad and Tobago, seeded 3, by a 3-0 margin to advance to the round of 16; where he faced Jamaica Jayden Ebanks, whom he defeated by a 3-1 margin with scores of (-9, 8, 6, 6).
This allowed him to advance to the quarterfinals, where he faced Trinidad and Tobago’s Samuel Humphrey. Wong made light work of Humphrey, winning by a 3-1 margin in the quarterfinals. He will now face Rafael Cabrera of the Dominican Republic for a possible chance to go to the finals, already assured of a secured bronze medal.
Jonathan Van Lange, Guyana’s only other player, along with Mc Neil and Wong, to advance to the knockout stage, suffered tough luck by losing 3-2 to Dominican Republic’s Eduardo Arryl in a thrilling five-setter, which finished 12-14 in the fifth game, after being up 7-3 and 9-5.