Queen's Park Table Tennis Club duo, Imani Edwards-Taylor, and Guyana's Shemar Britton captured the Women's and Men's Open titles when the T&T Table Tennis Association Tobago Open Tournament came off at the Shaw Park Complex, Scarborough on Saturday.
In the Tobago Women's Open, Edwards-Taylor secured the title following an 11-7, 11-9, 11-8 victory over her clubmate Jinai Samuel.
Earlier in the quarterfinals, Edwards-Taylor brushed aside Arlene Joseph 11-0, 11-2, 11-6 and Samuel swept past Derah Ramoutar 11-3, 11-4, 11-5 while Thuraia Thomas defeated Jeresse Elder 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7 and Elizabeth Rajah stopped Yzabelle Morris 11-7, 14-12, 11-5.
In the semifinals, Edwards-Taylor battled past Thomas 11-13, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7, 13-11 while Samuel rallied past Rajah 9-11, 15-13, 11-6, 11-6.
The men's decider was a straightforward win for Britton, 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 over clubmate Yuvraaj Dookram. Britton began main-draw play with an 11-1, 11-1, 11-2 win over Daniel Bhim which he backed up by beating Nicolas Lee 11-7, 11-9, 11-6; Aarun Roopnarine and Curtis Humphreys in the semifinals, 11-4, 11-5, 11-8.
Humphreys, meanwhile, defeated his brother Edwin Humphreys 9-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-7; Sekel Mc Intosh 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 and Josiah Joseph 11-6, 11-8, 11-9.
On the other side of the draw, Yuvraaj Dookram reached the men's final after he came from behind to win his semifinal 5-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-6 over Jesse Dookie of Carenage Blasters.
When the main draw began at the last-32 stage, Dookram beat Gabriel John, 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 followed by wins against Abhai Lal 11-2, 11-7, 11-6 in the last 16, and Nicholas O'Young 11-7, 11-6, 11-2 in the quarterfinals while Dookie overcame Dave Ramoutar 11-6, 11-7, 11-5; Kwame Laurence 11-4, 11-3, 11-4 and Jean-Marc Lee Fai 18-16, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7.
In the Girls' Under-19, Edwards-Taylor also came out on top with an 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 defeat of Jinai Samuel in the final.
Earlier in her semifinal match, Edwards-Taylor stopped Thomas 11-5, 3-11, 11-7 11-9 and Samuel, beat Nuyanka Peters 11-0, 11-4, 11-8 in the quarterfinal and then Elder 12-10, 11-7, 12-10 in her semifinal clash.
The Boys' U-19 final saw Josiah Joseph battling past Nicholas O'Young 11-6, 11-7, 11-13, 11-4 for the title. Joseph won his quarterfinal 11-4, 11-7, 13-11 over Jonathan Alleyne and then got the better of Gabriel John 11-7, 11-3, 8-11, 11-9 in the semifinals while O'Young eased past Mc Intosh 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9 in his last-eight clash followed by an 11-2, 12-10, 11-5 win against Joshua Bhim in the semifinals.
Bhim won his quarterfinal over Cameron Cudjoe 12-14, 11-5, 11-13, 11-5, 11-4 and John topped Kymani Holder 11-6, 13-11, 11-6.
Joseph also dominated the Boys' U-15 competition and overcame Sekel Mc Intosh 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 in the final.
Earlier in the semifinals, Joseph outlasted Jonathan Cottoy 9-11, 21-19, 6-11, 12-10, 11-4 and Mc Intosh got past Joshua Bhim 11-6, 9-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-7. This was after Joseph beat Mateo Mollineau 10-12, 11-5, 11-4, 5-11, 11-4 in the quarters and Mc Intosh stopped Daniel Bhim 4-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-8.
Samuel had better fortune in the Girls' U-15 age-group beating Elizabeth Rajah 11-9, 11-6, 11-9 for the crown.
In the semifinals, Samuel fought back to beat Elder 7-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-1, 14-12 and Rajah defeated Isabella Myers 11-6, 11-7, 11-7.
Rajah had earlier lifted the U-13 title with victories against Zuri Radge Coomar 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 and Isabella Myers 11-8, 11-4, 12-10 in their round-robin series with Radge Coomar easing past Myers 11-6, 11-8, 11-4 in the other match.
Radge Coomar topped the Girls' U-11 Round Robin series with wins against Gabriella Basso 11-5, 11-6, 11-3; Everleigh Mc Kenna 11-1, 11-3, 11-1 and Kimaya Richardson 11-4, 11-3, 11-3 to end with a perfect record of 3-0 in the four-player series while Mc Kenna ended in the second spot with victories over Basso 11-5, 6-11, 11-4, 11-6 and Richardson 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 while Basso ended third after beating Richardson 11-5, 11-9, 11-7.
Basso won the Girls' U-9 Singles, beating Mc Kenna 11-4, 10-12, 11-9, 14-12 in the decider. This after, Basso beat Kyziah Dates 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 and Mc Kenna ousted Richardson 11-6, 11-5, 18-16 in their semifinals.
Zayden Samgramsingh won the first of his two titles in the Boys' U-11 after wins against Yash Maharaj 11-4, 11-8, 13-11; Tristan Soomarie 11-8, 11-6, 11-6; Samir Radge Coomar 12-10, 11-6, 11-7 and Trent Sampath 11-6, 11-8, 13-15, 11-4.
In the Boys' U-9 competition, which was contested via a three-player round-robin, Sagramsingh beat Aaron Bramble 11-1, 11-1, 11-3 and Radge Coomar 11-9, 11-8, 11-9 for the title while Radge Coomar ended second after he beat Bramble 11-0, 11-2, 11-2.
Daniel Bhim topped the Boys' U-13 Singles via his 4-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 triumph over Mollineau. In the semifinals, Bhim brushed aside Jared Simon 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 and Mollineau silenced Triston Soomarie 11-6, 11-6, 11-4.
In the 'Tobago Only' tournaments, Lawrence Ince and Artienea Gregoire were crowned champions beating Jelani Bramble and Monique Cooper in their respective title matches.
