Suriname swept the male and female volleyball competitions on Saturday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall to steal a close win of the first phase of the Inter Guiana Goodwill Games (IGGG) against Guyana. Suriname’s male and female teams defeated Guyana in the morning session and returned Saturday evening to finish what they started. Guyana’s girls team lost 3-1 in both sessions while the boys’ team lost 0-3 and 2-3 respectively.
In the final session, Guyana’s female volleyball team increased their intensity and aggression but that was not enough to knock off the defending Inter-Guiana Games female volleyball champions. Guyana’s select Under 20 team managed to steal the third game 25-16, before Suriname closed out the match by the 3-1 score-line just as they did in the morning session. Guyana had been leading in the fourth and final game but their Suriname counterparts staged an impressive comeback performance to win 25-21.
On the men’s side, Guyana shook off their agonisingly close losses in the morning session where their largest margin of defeat was four points in the hope of avenging those losses. The male team began well by serving up Suriname to a 25-21 loss in the first set before Suriname won the second set by two points (25-23) to tie the match. The home crowd rallied behind their team, drumming with empty bottles and whatever they could find to create sounds of inspiration for their team. The Guyana guys did not disappoint in the third game, as they managed to sneak out a 26-24 win. The fire went out in the fourth game, as Suriname whipped Guyana 25-12 and reclaimed the momentum that took them to a comfortable victory in the fifth and final set.
For their clean sweep of the volleyball tournament, Suriname received an aggregate of 18 points, while Guyana received 14, which was the reverse of what occurred in the cycling competition which Guyana dominated. The tie-breaking sport proved to be chess where Suriname possessed a slight edge. Suriname won two of the four chess matches while Guyana won one and the other was drawn. The final points standing saw Suriname out front with 41 points while Guyana followed with 39 points. The competition will continue next weekend in Suriname with the male and female basketball and table tennis competitions. This is the first time in recent years that table tennis will be featured at the Inter Guiana Games level. Guyana’s head of delegation Karen Pilgrim said that she expects a similarly successful tournament in Suriname as their Director of Sport Michael Watson has already indicated Suriname’s readiness to host Guyana next week. Pilgrim added that she was reliably informed that Guyana’s basketball contingent has been working hard and she expects the table tennis players to do quite well.
