Former teammates on the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit, Daneil Williams and Joel Theodore, came up short in their bid to earn Trinidad and Tobago a spot at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games after finishing ninth at the NORCECA Beach Continental Olympic Qualifying Tournament on Sunday (November 8).
This was after Williams and Theodore ended at the bottom of their three-team round-robin Group A series at the Areia Sports Complex in Puerto Rico.
On Friday’s opening day of competition, Williams and Theodore were beaten by the US Virgin Islands’ Bryce Mayer and Tyler Penberthy 16-21, 14-21 in 34 minutes before a 20-22, 9-21 defeat at the hands of Mexico’s Carlos Andres and Ines Lares.
The Mexicans then defeated Mayer and Penberthy 21-12, 21-15, for the top spot in the pool ahead of the quarterfinals.
Despite finishing in the cellar spot in the pool, the T&T men advanced to the round of 12, where they were beaten by Costa Ricans Julián Araya and Stanley Brown 18-21, 19-21, to miss out on a quarterfinal spot.
In Pool B, Canada’s Samuel Schachter and Jonathan Pickett won both their matches against Kyle Hamilton and Sean Tucker of Bermuda 21-14 and 21-7, and the Guatemalans’ Edgar Maldonado and Jose Miguel Izaguirre won 21-9 and 21-11, respectively.
The Central Americans beat Hamilton and Tucker 21-13, 21-11 to end as the runner-up.
USA’s Trevor Crabb and Chase Budinger dominated Pool C with victories over Belize’s Francis Hauze and Ernest Broaster 21-13 and 21-16, and Costa Ricans, Julián Araya and Stanley Brown 21-15 and 21-13, with the latter finishing in the second spot after easing past Hauze and Broaster 21-15 and 21-13 in the pool opener.
And in Pool D, the lone group with four teams, host pairing Diego Rosich and William Rivera, had wins against Grenada’s
Darron Oxford and Jerron Phillip 21-9, 21-7; Barbadians Ronald Rice and Joshua Ashby 21-9, 21-4; and Rafael Vargas and Gabriel Vargas of El Salvador, 21-14, 21-9.
The Vargas’ men ended as the runners-up in the pool after beating Taylor and Ashby 21-11, 21-16, and Oxford and Phillip 21-15, 21-14, while the Bajans won their English-speaking Caribbean clash with Oxford and Phillip 21-16, 21-19.
In the other round-of-12 matches, Maldonado and Izaguirre defeated Taylor and Ashby 21-14, 21-16; Mayer and Penberthy whipped Hamilton and Tucker 21-6, 21-9; and the Vargas duo outlasted Francis Hauze and Ernest Broaster 15-21, 21-18, 16-14.
In the last eight encounters, Andres and Lares beat the Vargas pair 21-13, 21-9; Rosich and Rivera battled past Mayer and Penberthy 21-16, 21-19; Crabb and Budinger topped Maldonado and Izaguirre 21-12, 21-9, while Schachter and Pickett humbled Araya and Brown 21-14, 21-14.
In the semifinals, Crabb and Budinger continued their winning run by defeating Canada’s Schachter and Pickett, 21-19, 21-18, to secure their place in the decisive match for the Olympic berth, while Andrés and Lares battled past Rosich and Rivera, 21-18, 14-21, 15-13.
The American duo of Trevor Crabb and Chase Budinger then claimed the title, securing a direct berth for host USA to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games after defeating Mexico in a thrilling final, 17-21, 21-16, and 19-17.
With the victory, the USA claimed the gold medal and Olympic qualification, while Mexico earned silver following an impressive performance throughout the tournament.
In the bronze medal match, Canada’s Samuel Schachter and Jonathan Pickett delivered a commanding performance to defeat Puerto Rico’s Diego Rosich and William Rivera 2-0 (21-9, 21-15).
