By Iva Wharton
Guyana lost its chance of becoming the next Caribbean Scrabble Champion after losing to underdogs Barbados yesterday.
Guyana won 14 of the thirty-six games it played against Barbados at the Bank of Guyana.
Barbados will play their final team competition against defending champions Trinidad and Tobago. Should Barbados win this championship then they would have gained the team championship.
Via telephone Guyana’s Captain Abigail McDonald, who won four games against Barbados and five against Trinidad, said that if she could sum up their performance in one world it would be “disappointing.”
According to McDonald, there were early signs that their players were choking.
“We were taken out of our comfort zones because we had lost some amount of confidence and you could see it because some of the players were choking earlier in the competition.”
Players like James Krakowksy who scored four games against Trinidad lost all his games yesterday while Moen Gafoor who also won four games against Trinidad only scored two wins. However, Leon Belony won four matches which was an improvement from his one win against the Trinidadians.
In the first nine matches the teams were tied at nine games apiece. However, things did not go in Guyana’s favour when play resumed after lunch as Guyana was only able to win five of the 18 games contested.
McDonald said Barbados should be congratulated for their performance and they have a lot riding on them today.
According to Guyana’s captain, even though they lost to Barbados they still have something to celebrate and t is their victory against Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad she said, boasts four players who compete at the World Scrabble Championships.
Guyana’s victory, she said, came after 14 years and it was a great improvement and so they intend to take away the positives from the competition.
The team competitions will conclude today and the players will move on to compete in the individual competition tomorrow which will bring an end to the Caribbean Scrabble Championships.
