Christopher Franklin, Trenace Lowe and Chelsea Edghill last night stormed into the semi-finals of the men and women’s singles competition at the 60th annual Caribbean Table Tennis Federation championships at the National Arena, Kingston, Jamaica.
National champion Franklin will meet defending champion Samuel Galvez in the semis with a spot in the men’s final at stake.
“Words cannot express how I feel right now, “Franklin wrote on his Facebook page after his stunning, surprising performance as the lone English-speaking player in the semis.
“I’ve achieved a goal I set out before this tournament in reaching the semi-finals…” he added before promising to lay it all on the line in today’s semis.
In the round of 16 Franklin defeated Samuel Delepine of Martinique to advance to the quarterfinals where he defeated Abit Tejada of the Dominican Republic 4-3.
Edghill, fresh from winning the U21 category of the championships a few days earlier, defeated Dominican Republic’s Dahyana Rojas in the round of 16 and Puerto Rico’s Alanis Reyes to reach the semifinals.
She will face nemesis Eva Brito of the Dominican Republic in today’s semi-final.
Lowe, who will face Dominican Republic’s Yasiris Ortiz in today’s second semi-final defeated two Trinidadians in Aleena Edwards in the round of 16 and Catherine Spicer in the quarter-finals.
Shemar Britton advanced from Group Six by defeating Maxime Graignon of Guadeloupe 3-0 and Kweisi Willoughby of Jamaica 3-1
He then defeated Simon Tomlinson of Jamaica 3-0 to reach the quarterfinals where lost to the Dominican Republic’s Emil Santos.
Joel Alleyne defeated Jamaican player Kane Watson 3-2 margin and Derron Douglas of Trinidad and Tobago 3-1 before losing to Curtis Humphreys in the round of 32.
Nigel Bryan was the only player failing to advance in the group after a tough draw losing to Kevin Farley of Barbados 3-1 and Humphreys 3-0.
Natalie Cummings in Group 7 defeated Krystal Harvey of Barbados 3-0 and Seija Monee Rose of Jamaica 3-0 while Jody-Ann Blake upset the number eight seed Kenady King Barbados 3-0.
She also defeated Tsenaye Lewis of Jamaica 3-0 before losing to Brito while Cummings got past Brittany Joseph of Trinidad before losing to Ortiz.
