Leaving Guyana bent on going the distance for gold, the senior national male and female table tennis teams unfortunately had to settle for silver at the 60th Caribbean championships in Jamaica.
The men’s team topped their group and faced powerhouse Dominican Republic, who took the title after leading 0-3.
Young talent Shemar Britton got some consolation for the team with a win against the reigning Caribbean Champion Samuel Galvez. Britton won the five-set encounter 6-11, 11-7, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5.
In the semi-final against Barbados, they had to dig deep to come from behind a 0-2 deficit. Both Christopher Franklin and Britton lost in identical fashion (1-3) to Tyrese Knight and Mark Dowell respectively.
Joel Alleyne started the resurgence, defeating Marcus Smith in straight sets (11-5, 11-6, 11-5), after which Britton followed up a with a victory over Knight and Franklin disposed of Dowell in straight sets.
The ladies had finished second in their group to earn a spot in the final four. Playing Trinidad and Tobago in the semi-final, the trio of Trenace Lowe, Chelsea Edghill and Natalie Cummings were too perfect. They easily disposed of the Trinis 3-0.
Just like the men, they faced the toughest test in the Dominican Republic and the table turned full circle with them facing the brunt of a 0-3 defeat.
Cummings produced the lengthiest fight by going five sets with Esmerlyn Castro, losing 11-6, 6-11, 11-8, 6-11, 8-11.
Immediate attention will now turn to the male and female Doubles along with Mixed Doubles. Britton and Priscilla Greaves will also begin priming for success in the Under-21 Singles.
