SHERDON PIERRE
TT Junior table tennis teams completed the team categories with three silver and one bronze medal at the Caribbean Regional Table Tennis Federation (CRTTF) Junior Championship on Wednesday at the National Indoor Gymnasium in Guyana.
Despite showing a commendable effort, TT were beaten 3-1 by the tournament’s favourite Dominican Republic in the Boys U-15 final. DR’s Alexander Perez swept Gabriel John 3-0 (11:5; 11:1; 11:5). France-based player Malik Gopaul tied the contest 1-1 for TT when he battled from two sets down to win against Dariel Del Rosario 3-2 (10:12; 5:11; 11:7; 11:6; 11:9). However, Alexander Tejada defeated Sekel Mc Intosh in three straight sets (12:10; 11:4; 11:3) to take the 2-1 lead. Del Rosario sealed the gold medal for his team beating John 3-0 (12:120; 11:5; 11:7). TT`s number one ranked U15 player Josiah Joseph was not in the lineup for the final. En route to the final, TT defeated Jamaica 3-0 whilst the Dominican Republic won easily against the home team Guyana 3-0.
TT U-19 Boys settled for the bronze medal after they were defeated 3-0 by Guyana in the semis. Guyanese Umar Percival was outclassed 3-0 (11:9; 11:9; 11:8). Then, Jonathan Van Lange outplayed Ameer Mohammed 3-0 (11:5; 11:7;11:2). Krystian Sahadeo wrapped up the Guyanese victory beating Nicholas O’Young in a close encounter 3-1 (11:9; 9:11; 11:9; 13:11). In the final, Guyana were eventually defeated by Dominican Republic 3-0.
The format for the Girls U-15 and U-19 was a round-robin amongst the participating teams. The local girls bagged silver medals in both categories. The U-19 team of Imani Edwards-Taylor, Priyanka Khellawan, Yzabelle Morris, Mikah Stroude defeated Guyana 3-0, Jamaica 3-2 but lost to the eventual champions Dominican Republic 3-0.
The U-15 Girls team of Chloe Fraser, Jordan Thong, Lyllanna Boodhan and Jinai Samuel defeated Guyana 3-1, and Jamaica 3-1 but lost to eventual champions 3-0 Dominican Republic to claim the silver medal.
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