nigel.simon@guardian.co.tt
T&T Under-11 Boys team of Liam Rattoo, Liam Walters, and Aaron Noel had to settle for the silver medal after falling to Jamaica in their age-group final on the third day of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA)-hosted Caribbean Region Table Tennis Federation (CRTTF) Mini-Cadet (U-11) and Pre-Cadet (U-13) Table Tennis Championship at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Georgetown, Guyana, on Sunday.
In the title match, Rattoo handed T&T a winning start courtesy of his 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 defeat of Anthony Bird, but that was the only silver lining for T&T as Jamaica then won the next three matches to take the gold medal.
Firstly, Ajani Spencer outplayed Noel, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3, before Bird and Spencer beat Rattoo and Walters in the doubles 13-11, 11-9, 13-11 followed by Spencer’s 11-5, 9-11, 11-9, 11-2 beating of Rattoo in the reverse singles.
On Saturday in the semifinals, T&T made light work of Guyana ‘A’ with Walters beating Zion Hickerson, 11-6, 6-11, 11-4, 11-7; Rattoo defeating Kayden Muesa, 11-3, 9-11, 11-7, 11-4 and the pair of Walters and Noel winning the doubles against Hickerson and Muesa, 11-3, 1-11, 11-7, 11-7. In the other semifinal, Jamaica swept past Guyana ‘B’ 3-0.
In the round-robin group stage, the T&T’s U-11 swept both Barbados ‘A’ and Guyana ‘D’ by 3-0 margins and Guyana ‘B’ 3-1 with Noel winning both his singles matches, as well as the doubles with Walters while Rattoo was beaten in his singles encounter.
Jamaica defeated both Guyana ‘A’ and Guyana ‘C’ by a similar 3-0 score line.
However, in the U-13 Team competition, both the T&T boys Josiah Joseph, and Jonathan Cottoy (T&T ‘B’) and took bronze.
With a place in the Boys’ U-13 final at stake Joseph and Cottoy were brushed aside by St Lucians Manie Eleuthere, and Leshon Francis 3-0.
Eleuthere overcame Joseph, 9-11, 15-13, 11-6, 11-7, and Francis rallied past Cottoy, 11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, before the St Lucians also won the doubles, 10-12, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8.
This after Joseph and Cottoy won their quarterfinal 3-0 over Grenada ‘B’ with Joseph easing past Zidane Gibbs, 11-6, 11-1, 11-5; Joseph humbling Kniequan Sam Lewis, 11-4, 11-3, 11-7, and the T&T boys winning the doubles, 11-8, 11-8, 11-3.
The T&T ‘A’ team of Sekel Mc Intosh and Ethan Ramcharan was beaten in their quarterfinal 3-0 by Guyana ‘A’ with Mc Intosh falling to Ebo Mc Neil, 8-11, 7-11, 8-11; Ramcharan going under to Moore, 6-11, 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 4-11 and the Guyanese duo prevailing 11-3, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10 in the doubles.
In the round-robin group stage of the U-13 Boys competition, T&T ‘B’ pairing of Jonathan Cottoy and Josiah Joseph was edged out by Guyana ‘A’ but rebounded to secure victories against Grenada ‘A’, and Barbados ‘B’ both by 3-0 margins in Group C while the T&T ‘A’ team of Mc Intosh and Ramcharan, beat Guyana ‘B’ 3-0 but went under to St Lucia 2-3.
In the Girls’ U-13, T&T’s team of Lyllana Boodhan, Jerisse Elder, and Janna Mohammed also stumbled at the semifinal hurdle, 1-3 against Jamaica.
For T&T, Elder and Boodhan won the doubles 11-8, 11-4, 11-4 to keep alive their hopes after Jamaica had taken a 2-0 lead thanks to Keeara Whyte’s 11-5, 7-11, 11-1, 11-9 win against Elder, and Kayan Denton’s 11-2, 14-12, 15-13 beating of Boodhan.
And in the reverse singles, Whyte beat Boodhan 14-12, 11-7, 11-8 to set up the final with Guyana ‘A’ which the host won 3-1, after beating Guyana ‘B’ 3-0 in the semifinals.
Earlier on in the round-robin, the T&T girls went under to Guyana ‘A’ 0-3, but defeated Guyana ‘D’ 3-0 in their must-win match.