The T&T contingent displayed top performances in table tennis and swimming as action continued yesterday at the Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC) in Veracruz, Mexico.
Table-Tennis
At the Omega Complex in the men’s doubles last-eight, T&T pair Curtis Humphreys and Dexter St Louis dumped David Vila and Isaac Vila of Dominican Republic 12-10, 11-9, 11-8 and come up against Mexicans, Guillermo Munoz and Ricardo Villa who defeated Venezuelans, Luis Diaz and Marco Navas 6-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-1 in the semifinals.
In the women’s doubles, T&T duo Rheann Chung and Ashley Quashie were stopped by Venezuelans Gremlis Arvelo and Roxy Gonzalez 6-11, 9-11, 9-11 in their last-eight encounter. Last night in the mixed doubles, Humphreys and Quashie faced Jamaicans Simon Tomlinson and Yvonne Foster, while Aaron Wilson and Catherine Spicer battled the Dominican Republic pair of Isaac Vila and Johenny Valdez in the round-of-32.
On Monday in the women’s singles Chung defeated Karla Britto of Dominican Republic 11-5, 11-4, 11-7 and Guatemala’s Andrea Montoya 11-3, 11-8, 11-6 in Group Five; Quashie went under to Puerto Rican Melanie Diaz 5-11, 5-11, 2-11 but was then awarded a walkover win against Barbadian Angela Reid in Group Nine.
Venezuelan Wimberly Montero stopped T&T’s Spicer 11-5, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9 while the latter was also beaten by Cuban Idalys Lovet 5-11, 3-11, 4-11 in Group 13.
And in the men’s singles St Louis was upstaged in his opener by Cuban Jorge Campos 5-11, 6-11, 7-11 before beating El Salvador’s Erick Avilez 6-11, 11-3, 13-11, 11-1 in Group Three; teenager Aaron Wilson beat Jamaican Michael Hyatt 7-11, 4-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 before losing to Cuban Yohan Morra 5-11, 11-1, 5-11 in Group Eight; and in Group 12, Guatemala’s Hector Gatica defeated Humphreys 11-7, 11-3, 11-6 while the latter humbled Honduran Miguel Sarmiento 11-2, 11-7, 11-9.
Boating
On Monday in Boating at the Tuxpan River, T&T’s Satyam Maharaj was seventh in the men’s KI 200m final with a 1:00.998 clocking while Keian Huggins placed sixth in the women’s final, with a 1:11.242 timing.
Shooting
Roger Daniel got bronze in the men’s 10m Air Pistol final with 175.8 points behind Cuban gold medalist Jorge Grau (201.1) and Mexican Maurilio Morales who took silver with 196.8.
In the morning qualifying session, Daniel also had the third best tally from his six sectors with 570 point to trail Grau (573) and Morales (571) while T&T’s two other competitors, Rodney Allen (545) and Clement Marshall (527) were 22nd and 31st overall.
And in the Men’s 10m Air Pistol Team competition, the trio of Daniel, Allen and Marshall combined for 1,642 points for sixth spot while in the women’s individual compound archery competition, Neela Cezair was 19th with 631 points.
Swimming
Over at the Leyes de Reforma Aquatic Centre, swimmer, Abraham Mc Leod qualified for the men’s 50m breaststroke final which was also contested last night, after he was second in 28.92 behind Venezuelan Carlos Clavarie (28.84) in their heat while his brother Joshua Mc Leod contested the men’s 50m butterfly final from lane two.
Volleyball
At the Cordoba Sports Arena, Willis sisters, Angela and Verania closed with 20 and 16 points, respectively to lead Costa Rica women over T&T, 25-19, 25-19, 25-14 in their final round-robin volleyball match.
For T&T, Channon Thompson and Sinead Jack finished with seven points each in the third loss from as many matches while they will next the loser fo one of the two quarterfinals, featuring Mexico/Colombia and Cuba/Costa Rica.
Puerto Rico defeated Mexico and clinched their second victory 25-17, 22-25, 27-25, 25-20 to advance straight to the semifinals as group winners while in Pool A defending champions Dominican Republic closed the pool phase undefeated after beating Cuba 25-20, 25-19, 25-19 to earn the automatic semifinal spot from the group while Colombia overcame Venezuela 25-22, 26-24, 25-23.
Cycling
In men’s kierin round one action yesterday, T&T cyclist Kwesi Browne came second in heat three to advance to the next round. Another T&T rider Jude Codrington was eliminated from contention, after not finishing heat two. He had a second chance to qualify for the next round, but did not start the round one repechage.
On Monday, Browne, Codrington and Quincy Alexander finished fifth overall in the men’s team sprint.
Today at the Leyes de Reforma Aquatic Centre, Wednesday, 31-year-old Bovell III who recently ended another successful FINA/Mastbank World Cup season and is the two-time defending champions in the men’s 50m freestyle having won the last two events in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico (2010) and 2006 in Cartagena, Colombia will get gold medal campaign off and running when he lines up in heat two of the men’s 50m backstroke while compatriot David Mc Leod goes in heat one, and Joshua Mc Leod, heat one of the men’s 100m butterfly. Bovell is also expected to spearhead the men’s 4 x 100m freestyle quartet in their final tonight.
In Archery, the trio of George Viree, Hasmath Alo and Amrit Siew both competed in the men’s individual compound as well as the team competition while the national women’s hockey team tackle Dominican Republic at the High Performance Centre, the Women’s Soca Warriors face Mexico in a rematch of their Concacaf Women’s World Cup third place match at Hugo Sanchez Sports Complex.
Basketball
T&T’s senior women’s basketball team will be seeking to improve on its seventh placed finish four years ago, when coach Christopher Jackson Charles’ team opens its account at the 2014 Central America and Caribbean Games (CAC), today, against Cuba.
T&T and Cuba will meet from 2.30 pm (TT time) at the Benito Juarez Auditorium, Veracruz, following the Group B opener between Jamaica and 2010 CAC silver medal team, the Dominican Republic. Group A action will follow at the same venue, at 8 pm, when Costa Rica and defending CAC basketball champion Puerto Rico meet. Host team Mexico and El Salvador will meet in the final match of the day.
Following today’s action, T&T will face the Dominican Republic tomorrow from 2.30 pm and Jamaica on Friday, from midday. The qualification rounds and semifinals will be played on Saturday, followed by the place matches and the final on Sunday.
The men’s tournament featuring Panama, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Mexico and Costa Rica will start on Monday and end on November 28.
T&T’s squad for the tournament includes the late additions of Alison Young and Tobago pair Aniecia Baptiste and Dourciel Moore, who have replaced unavailable players, Melissa Guerero, Shakira Clarke and Alicia Liverpool.
The other players include Rhea Codio, Jowan Ortega, Jenelle Richardson, Kielle Connelly, Alicia Cumberbatch, Samantha Wallace, Trecha Jackson-Kennedy, Patrice Edwards, and Afeisha Noel. The support staff include, Arnold Thomas (manager), Shawn Ryan (asst coach) and Claire Mitchell (official).
Initially, T&T failed to qualify for the CAC Games after finishing fourth at the CBC Championships in July. However, the US Virgin Islands, which originally qualified, pulled out of the tournament, opening an invitation for T&T to participate.
Football
With each team on one point, T&T can take a shock lead in Group A of the Central America and Caribbean (CAC) women’s football tournament, today, with a shock win over host team Mexico, when the two teams meet in their second fixture.
The two teams will kick off at 5 pm kickoff at the Estadio Unidad Deportiva Hugo Sanchez, Greater Veracruz, following a Group A double-header opener between Colombia and Haiti.
All four teams are equal in the standings after two 1-1 draws on Monday evening.
In its opener against Haiti, T&T came from a goal down in the first half to seal a draw thanks to a 51st minute goal from Patrice Campbell.
The second fixture on the night saw Mexico steal a point after canceling a first half Colombian goal with an equalizer in the fifth minute of time added on in the second half.
Mexico’s goal was scored by Veronica Corral, the same player who scored two goals in extra time against T&T last month at the Concacaf Women’s Championships, to boot the “Women’s Soca Warriors” into the third-place playoff.