Arun Roopnarine was in ripping form as the T&T Under-13 Boys' team reached the team final against host Puerto Rico at the fifth Pre-Cadet and Cadet Caribbean Region Table Tennis Federation Championships last night. The other members of the T&T team includes Aaron Wilson, Sarvesh Mungal and his brother Amresh Mungal. The locals defeated St Maarten (3-0), Dominican Republic (3-2) and Guyana (3-1) to end with maximum points in Pool B play before trouncing Jamaica (3-0) in their semifinals at the University of Utuado.
Led by the impressive Roopnarine, who has played unbeaten so far in the tournament, the got victories from Roopnarine, Wilson and Mungal (S) against St Maarten. Roopnarine then played a decisive role in T&T's 3-2 upset win over Dominican Republic by winning the fifth match, 12-10, 11-6, 11-7 over Jefferson Almazar. It was the second win in the tie for Roopnarine while Wilson had T&T's other victory. Wilson and Mungal (Sarvesh) were the T&T players to taste defeat. Against Guyana, Roopnarine again won his two matches, which included an 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 8-11, 11-8 triumph over Jamaal Duff to secure the tie at 3-1.
This after Wilson had lost his first match while Sarvesh had T&T's other win. In the semifinal with Jamaica, the trio of Roopnarine, Mungal (S) and Wilson all won to reach the gold medal contest against Puerto Rico which defeated Dominican Republic in the other semis. In the Girls Under-13 competition, the T&T team of Brittany Joseph, Adefa James, Monique Cooper and Nalini Boodoo have won two and lost two matches so far.
The local girls' defeated St Maarten and a combined Barbados/Guyana team both by 3-0 margins while going under to Dominican Republic (0-3) and Puerto Rico (1-3). They were due to complete their schedule against Jamaica last night, with a victory securing a bronze medal. In the Under-10 age group, T&T combined with St Maarten and Guyana to field a boys' team, which meant they were debarred from vying for a medal. Today, the Doubles competition will serve off followed by the singles competition tomorrow.