Yannick Robertson scored six goals to lead hosts T&T to their first win in three matches in the Under-17 Boys’ Division of the 2019 Pan American Youth Water Polo Championships at the National Aquatic Centre in Balmain, Couva, on Sunday.
However, it was Everson Latchman who added a valuable beaver trick, all coming in the final quarter, for T&T to claw their way back from being down to snatch a 14-13 victory over Peru.
The quartet of Kelvin Caesar, Nathan Hinds, Jonathan Constantine and Marvin Gillard-Bruce added one each for the Jeff Passwater-coached T&T boys to finally taste victory after defeats at the hands of Canada (5-23) and Argentina (7-29) in their previous matches
Speaking after the win, an elated Passwater said the win was all due to the heart and soul of the players.
“Going into the final period we were down three goals and the coaching staff, we didn’t discuss any team tactics with the boys,” he told Guardian Media after the match.
“What we told them was that you are only down three goals (9-12) and all the work you have put in over the past six months has come down this, we still have a chance to get a positive result and credit to the team, they went out there, created the chances for Latchman, and he rewarded us with four goals in the final quarter, which doesn’t really happen often in this sport.”
Passwater noted that in the first couple of days of the competition, the results for his team were not what they had hoped for and credit must be given to the players as they didn’t quit. A former coach at the University of the Pacific and Mc Kendree University, the US-born Passwater was full of praise for the crowd support as well.
He said, “I have been a coach in this sport for close to 25 years and the crowd support was absolutely on fire for the teams. When the girls were playing, they had full support of the boys and when the boys were in that tight battle with Peru, the girls and the rest of the crowd were as loud as can be, and I believe it helped to spur the team on, as coming down to the end, Peru knew they didn’t stand a chance.”
Also yesterday, the USA improved to 3-0 with an 18-9 defeat of Argentina while Canada made it two straight wins after a 17-14 win over Colombia, while Brazil overwhelmed Bahamas 28-5.
The local boys will be back in action today from 2 pm versus Colombia. The top two teams at the end of the round-robin series will contest the gold medal match while the third and fourth-placed teams compete for bronze.
Women lose again
However, the T&T girls’ poor run of form continued as they suffered a third straight defeat 28-3 to Canada. The Canadians improved to 3-0, level with the USA, who were 22-2 winners over Brazil, while Argentina battled past Peru 14-6.
Today, the T&T girls meet Peru from 11.40 am. The top teams at the end of this round-robin will qualify directly to the semifinals on August 22 while the teams finishing third to sixth will meet in two quarterfinals to determine the other semifinalists
The ten-day competition is serving as the qualifier for the Americas region to next year’s FINA Worlds Youth Championships.
Yesterday’s Results:
(Women)
USA 22 v Brazil 2
Argentina 14 v Peru 6
Canada 28 vs T&T 3
(Men)
T&T 14 v Peru 13
USA 18 v Argentina 9
Canada 17 v Colombia 14
Brazil 28 v Bahamas 5
Today’s matches
(Women)
Argentina v USA, 9 am
Canada v Brazil, 10.20 am
Peru v T&T, 11.40 am
(Men)
Colombia v T&T, 2 pm
USA v Peru, 3.20 pm
Canada v Brazil, 4.40 pm
Argentina v Bahamas, 6p m
Tomorrow
(Women)
T&T v Argentina, 9 am
Brazil vs Peru, 10.20 am
Canada vs USA, 11.40 am
(Men)
T&T v Brazil, 2 pm
Peru v Canada, 3.20 pm
Bahamas v USA, 4.40 pm
Colombia v Argentina, 6 pm