Malik Gopaul of Solo Crusaders completed the double by winning both the T&T Table Tennis Association National Under-15 and Under-19 Boys’ Singles Trials Tournament at the Siparia Community Centre on Monday.
In the Under-19 Boys’ Trials, Gopaul was as equally as impressive as he again finished with an unblemished record of four wins without a defeat.
This time, he rallied past Ameer Mohamed 8-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-7; Emmanuel Edwards 11-5, 11-7, 11-8; Christoff Roberts 16-14, 11-5, 11-2 and Samuel Humphreys 11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 13-11 to be the top-ranked player among the four qualified to represent T&T at the International Table Tennis Federation Pan American Under-19 Championship in Argentina, from August 2-7.
Roberts took the second spot with a 3-1 record after beating third-placed Humphreys (2-2), 11-7, 2-11, 13-11, 11-6 in their final round match while Mohamed secured the fourth and final spot on the team when he avoided the wooden spoon via his defeat of winless Edwards 12-10, 13-11, 11-7.
At the Caribbean Youth (U-15 and U-19) Table Tennis Championship in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic earlier this year, Mohamed and Humphreys formed part of the Under-19 Boys’ with Derron Douglas for a Team bronze medal.
Earlier in the morning session, Gopaul, the national Under-15 runner-up to Gabriel John who opted out of the tournament ended with a perfect record of 5-0 following wins against WASA’s Jonathan Cottoy, Silver Bowl Under-13 winner Josiah Joseph of PowerGen, Sekel Mc Intosh of D’Abadie Youths, Ethan Ramcharan of PowerGen, and D’Abadie’s Kymani Holder in the Under-15 Boys’ Trials Tournament.
Gopaul signalled his intentions from early on by beating Cottoy 11-4, 12-10, 11-9 and followed by outlasting Joseph 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7; beating Mc Intosh 11-7, 11-9, 11-2; Ramcharan 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9, and Holder 11-7, 11-4, 11-6.
The Trials was used to select national teams for the two upcoming International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Pan American Table Tennis Tournament with Gopaul being joined on the T&T team for the Under-15 Pan American Championships which comes off in Ecuador in August (23-28) by Joseph (4-1), Ramcharan (3-2) and Cottoy (2-3) who completed the top four finishers.
Holder was fifth with a 1-4 record via his opening-round victory against winless Mc Intosh, who was part of the team along with Gopaul, Joseph, and Ramcharan that earned a bronze medal in the Under-15 Boys Team competition at the Caribbean Youth Championship in Santo Domingo.
RESULTS
Under-19 Boys
Round One:
Christoff Roberts bt Emmanuel Edwards 13-11,11-13, 11-7, 11-1
Malik Gopaul bt Ameer Mohamed 8-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-7
Round Two
Malik Gopaul bt Emmanuel Edwards 11-5, 11-7, 11-8
Samuel Humphreys bt Ameer Mohamed 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9
Round Three
Malik Gopaul bt Christoff Roberts 16-14, 11-5, 11-2
Samuel Humphreys bt Emmanuel Edwards 11-7, 11-8, 6-11, 11-8
Round Four
Christoff Roberts bt Ameer Mohamed 12-10, 9-11, 13-11, 8-11, 11-4
Malik Gopaul bt Samuel Humphreys 11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 13-11
Round Five
Christoff Roberts bt Samuel Humphreys 11-7, 2-11, 13-11, 11-6
Ameer Mohammed bt Emmanuel Edwards 12-10, 13-11, 11-7.
Under-15 Boys
Round One
Kymani Holder bt Sekel Mc Intosh 12-10, 4-11, 11-4, 11-7
Malik Gopaul bt Jonathan Cottoy 11-4, 12-10, 11-9
Josiah Joseph bt Ethan Ramcharan 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5
Round Two
Ethan Ramcharan bt Kymani Holder 11-6, 11-5, 11-5
Malik Gopaul bt Josiah Joseph 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7
Jonathan Cottoy bt Sekel Mc Intosh 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 16-14
Round Three
Josiah Joseph bt Kymani Holder 11-7, 11-3, 16-14
Ethan Ramcharan bt Jonathan Cottoy 11-9, 16-18, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9
Malik Gopaul bt Sekel Mc Intosh 11-7, 11-9, 11-2
Round Four
Jonathan Cottoy bt Kymani Holder 6-11, 11-7, 11-4, 8-11, 11-7
Josiah Joseph bt Sekel Mc Intosh11-7, 15-13, 10-12, 11-9
Malik Gopaul bt Ethan Ramcharan 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9
Round Five
Malik Gopaul bt Kymani Holder 11-7, 11-4, 11-6
Ethan Ramcharan bt Sekel Mc Intosh 11-3, 11-8, 9-11, 11-1
Josiah Joseph bt Jonathan Cottoy 11-7, 11-9, 11-6
