A valiant fight by Trinidad and Tobago’s women’s team earned them a bronze-medal finish at the 2024 Senior Caribbean Table Tennis Federation Championship in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Wednesday.
TT’s France-based Rheann Chung won her two games, but Puerto Rico went on to clinch the semi-final 3-2.
Chung had a positive start and put TT 1-0 up with an 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7 victory over Fabiola Diaz. Puerto Rico drew level in the next game as Brianna Burgos trumped Chloe Fraser 11-8, 14-12, 11-8.
Puerto Rico gained control of the tie after game three, when Edmarie Leon defeated Imani Edwards-Taylor 11-7, 11-7, 11-7. Chung, however, returned to the table and tied things up once more by getting past Burgos 11-8, 14-12, 11-8, which forced a decisive fifth match.
It was not to be for TT, as Diaz ousted Fraser 11-7, 11-8, 11-9 to seal a spot in the title match against Cuba.
In the other semi, Cuba beat Guyana 3-0, with the losing semifinal nations sharing joint third place.
In Tuesday’s meeting against the DR at the Parque del Este Table Tennis Hall, TT stunned the hosts with a 3-2 victory. Despite Fraser's losing the opener to Eva Brito 11-6, 11-7, 3-11, 11-7, Chung drew TT level with an 11-7, 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, result over Esmerlyn Castro.
The DR retook the lead in the third as Yasiris Ortiz bettered Edwards-Taylor 11-4, 11-2, 11-6. Again, Chung brought TT back to winning ways when she won the fourth game 1109, 11-8 11-7 over Brito.
Fraser showed class in the decider and confirmed a semifinal spot by defeating Castro 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 11-6.
In the women’s team opener match on Tuesday morning, TT were downed 3-0 by Cuba.
Also on Wednesday, the TT men’s team missed out on a semifinal spot after losing 3-0 to the DR. Aaron Wilson lost 5-11, 8-11, 10-12 to Rafael Cabrera, Arun Roopnarine fell 11-9, 7-11, 4-11, 12-14 to Isaac Villa and Luc O'Young was beaten 4-11, 2-11, 6-11, courtesy Abit Tejada.
Earlier in the day, TT defeated Jamaica 3-0 but were trumped 0-3 by Barbados in their opening contest.
In singles action, two wins each for Wilson, Chung and Fraser gave TT a positive start on Friday.
Wilson won his first men’s singles group 12 match on Thursday night by disposing Bajan Romario Gill 1102, 11-9, 11-5. He returned to the table on Friday to notch another important 11-3, 11-9, 11-7 win over Puerto Rican Jabdiel Torres.
Later on in the men’s doubles round of 32, he partnered with Arun Roopnarine to oust Arubans Bryan Lopes and Shaofeng Xie 11-5, 11-6, 11-6. They face Tajeda and Vila of the host nation on Saturday, from 11 am.
Also on Thursday night, Edwards-Taylor lost her opening singles test 3-0 to Burgos while Thong fell in similar fashion against another Puerto Rican Fabiola Diaz.
O’Young also lost his first singles contest 3-0 against Vila and then his second by the same margin versus Cuban Rene Mendez.
Chung showed good form on Friday as she defeated Cuban Estela Crespo 11-6, 4-11, 11-6, 11-7 in her opener. She then bettered Guyanese Jasmine Billingy 11-9, 11-4,
