Guyana earned a silver medal in the boys U19 team event of the 26th Caribbean Region Table Tennis Federation Youth Championships, losing to powerhouse Dominican Republic 0-3 in the final yesterday at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue.
In the opening fixture Colin Wong went down to Rafael Cabrera 8-11, 7-11, 12-10 and 8-11.
Hopes for gold rested on the broad shoulders of 16-year-old star player Jonathan Van Lange who had taken a game off of the much vaunted, world rated number 67, Bryan Afanador, of Puerto Rico in the men’s team event.
Van Lange won the first two games 12-10 and 11-7 but inexplicably lost the next three to Ramon Vila 4-11, 8-11 and 9-11.
In the third match, Krystian Sahadeo was defeated by Eduardo Darley 5-11, 7-11, and 6-11.
In the earlier semi-final round, Guyana defeated Trinidad and Tobago 3-0. Wong downed Nicolas Lee 11-9, 11-9 and 11-8. Van Lange then bested Ameer Mohamed 11-5, 11-7 and 11-2 and Sahadeo sealed the outcome with an 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, and 13-11 win over Nicholas O’Young.
Meanwhile, Guyana was eliminated in the semi-final section of the boys U15 team division.
The Dominican Republic was once again the scourge of the hosts, as they prevailed 3-0.
Ebo McNeil lost the first match to Alexander Tejada 9-11, 5-11, 11-9 and 6-11. Malachi Moore was then defeated by Alexander Perez 11-4, 11-6, 8-11, 5-11, and 3-11.
Darius Daniels then fell at the hands of Dariel Del Rosario 7-11, 1-11, and 5-11.
