Guyana women’s table tennis team, last evening, secured a silver medal finish in the 2019 Caribbean Regional Table Tennis Federation (CRTTF) senior championship at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH).
The local ladies comprising Trenace Low, Natalie Cummings, Chelsea Edghill and Jody Ann-Blake were unlucky in their bid to get pass their adversaries from the Dominica Republic and lost 1-3 in their final round robin match, to settle for a gutsy second-place finish.
Both teams went into the match undefeated but it was Guyana who were first to establish their will to take the title when Edghill and Low continued their success over Yasiris Ortiz and Esmerlyn Castro in the doubles match-up by taking it 6-11, 11-9, 7-11, 13-11, 12-10.
Cummings was next on the table for the Guyanese and fought valiantly against Eva Brito but loss 7-11, 11-8, 4-11, 15-13, 5-11 in one of the most thrilling matches of the evening.
The Dominica Republic went 2-1 after Ortiz defeated Low 11-7, 12-10, 11-2, 13-11 while Cummings went down to Castro 6-11, 7-11, 4- 11 as the Dominica Republic completed a come from behind 1-3 win over the host to take gold.
Earlier, Guyana defeated Jamaica 3-0 to set up the gold medal clash with the Dominica Republic. Meanwhile, the men’s team of Christopher Franklin, Joel Alleyne, Shemar Britton and Nigel Bryan secured a well-deserved hard-fought 3-2 win over Barbados to collect team bronze.
Alleyne and Franklin gave the Guyanese the ideal start after the duo came from a set down to defeat Mark Dowell and Kevin Farley 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-3 in the doubles category.
However, Britton failed in his bid to take Guyana to a 2-0 lead after he was defeated by Tyrese Knight 5-11, 4-11, 12-10, 8-11. Alleyne then defeated Farley 11-6, 4-11, 11-6, 11-8 to gift the locals a 2-1 lead. Knight pulled another game back for Barbados by defeating Franklin 11-8, 13-11,11-8 before Britton closed out the 3-2 bronze medal win for Guyana by downing Dowell 11-7, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8.
Earlier, Guyana defeated Jamaica 3-1 with Shemar Britton the hero of that encounter with two singles wins to book their semifinal place against Puerto Rico which they lost 3-0. At press time Puerto Rico were still locked in battle against the Dominica Republic in the men’s final.
