T&T’s Under-11 boys team of reigning national age-group champions Zayden Sagramsingh and Tristan Soomarie will go into their final Team match Tuesday (July 2) at the Caribbean Regional Table Tennis Federation (CRTTF) Mini & Pre-Cadet Championship in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic with a chance of reaching the semifinals.
This after the pair ended Monday’s (July 1) first day of matches in the Under-11 Boys Team competition with a 1-1 record.
In the Under-11 Boys Team opener, T&T was swept aside in their four-team Group One tie 3-0 by Puerto Rico ‘B’ while Dominican Republic A also won 3-0 over Jamaica ‘B’.
For Puerto Rico ‘B’, Kennuel Arroyo defeated T&T’s Zayden Sagramsingh 11-4, 11-6, 15-13 while Ian Garcia overcame Tristan Soomarie 11-4, 5-11, 11-7, 11-6, and in the Doubles, Arroyo, and Garcia defeated Sagramsingh and Soomarie 4-11, 11-4, 11-6, 12-10.
However, in the afternoon session, the T&T boys rebounded to defeat Jamaica ‘B 3-0’ to set up a battle for the second semifinal spot in a winner-take-all clash with Dominican Republic who were defeated by Puerto Rico in their second match by the same score line.
Sagramsingh registered an 11-7, 11-2, 11-8 win over Jamaica’s Rudane Hemmings and Soomarie battled past Yashme Anderson 14-12, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10 before the T&T pair won 11-8, 11-6, 11-0 in the Doubles.
In Group Two, Puerto Rico ‘A’ leads with a 2-0 record after beating Jamaica ‘A’ 3-1 and Dominican Republic ‘B’ 3-0 while Jamaica ‘A’ beat Barbados 3-1, and the Dominican Republic, 3-1 winners over the Bajans as well will meet for the second spot today.
The outcome was the same for the T&T Boys ‘B’ team in their Under-13 opener as they went under to Puerto Rico ‘A’ 3-0 in their three-team Group A series and will face Jamaica ‘B’ today for the second spot in the group, and a spot in the main draw quarterfinals.
T&T’s Jared Simon was beaten by Matthew Cao 5-11, 5-11, 6-11; Aaron Noel fell to Angel Melendez 11-13, 7-11, 3-11, and in the Doubles Simon and Noel were beaten by Cao and Melendez 4-11, 5-11, 6-11.
And in Group D, T&T will also need to win against Guyana ‘A’ today after losing their curtain raiser to Dominican Republic ‘B’ 0-3 as well.
T&T’s Mateo Mollineau put up a fight in his 8-11, 11-8, 9-11, 6-11 loss to Angel Dominguez while Daniel Bhim was edged out by Angel Silverio 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 9-11 before the T&T boys were overwhelmed 4-11, 11-13, 11-13 in the Doubles.
T&T did not field a team in either the Girl’s Under-11 or Under-13 Team competitions with Elizabeth Rajah the lone player in the U-13 girl’s age group.
The team is being led by head coach Curtis Humphreys with Dennis La Rode and Edwin Humphreys, serving as his assistants and Sharon Bravo-Phillip, the team manager.
T&T team
U-11 Boys: Zayden Sagramsingh, Tristan Soomarie, Trent Sampath,
U-13 Girls: Elizabeth Rajah
U-13 Boys: Daniel Bhim, Mateo Mollineau, Aaron Noel, Jared Simon
Technical staff : Curtis Humphreys (head coach), Dennis La Rose (coach), Edwin Humphreys (coach), Sharon Bravo-Phillip (manager)