As expected, the country's two top players in their respective divisions, Solangel Guzman and Kerwyn Pantin, took away double crowns when the Solo Open Badminton Championship concluded at the Central Regional Indoor Sport Arena (CRISA), on Thursday evening.Guzman was unable to vie for a hat-trick as her designated mixed doubles partner Rahul Rampersad withdrew from the competition, leaving her to play for the women's singles and doubles crown.The unattached Cuban-born Guzman, who won the triple crown last year, went on to take the latter two titles easily.
In the women's singles final, Guzman faced Cristars' Kristi Reno-Singh (also competing in the junior division) and won the contest 21-10, 21-4.She secured a berth in the title match by virtue of a 21-6, 21-3 win over Kamasha Robertson of Shuttle Force.However, the two, Guzman and Robertson, then paired in another easy win, this time over Samurai pair Kimberly Skinner and Kelly Mollah, 21-4, 21-9.
Meanwhile, in the men's competition, Pantin, of FMT, escaped a meeting with the withdrawn Rampersad and met Roger Moore (Cristars) in the semifinal. Pantin, the third-seeded player then met second-seeded Alistair Espinoza (Shuttle Force) in the title match and won (21-12, 21-13) by perhaps a wider margin than he would have expected.
Pantin and fourth-seeded singles player Keston Friday teamed up in the men's singles and defeated Otis Fleary and Keeron Garcia in an all-FMT final, 21-14, 21-14, to successfully defend their doubles title. In the mixed doubles title match, Shuttle Force duo Leana Castanada and Alistair Espinoza, the runner-up finishers at last year's Solo Open, defeated Kamasha Robertson and Arthur Alexander (CATT).
One other division was competed, and it provided the most exciting final when Derek Singh and Andre Lewis (both of Finns) defeated SBC's Christopher Joachim and Sunil Ramashar 15-21, 21-8, 21-18.With the conclusion of the Seniors Open, the Juniors will continue and conclude today at the same CRISA venue. Several mouth-watering finals are expected.
Junior Open fixtures
Today
U-10
Boys singles final
Stephon Butcher v Marcus Alfonzo
Girls singles final
Curleen Sydney v Sonja Cassie
U-12
Boys singles final
Leon Cassie v Sydney Johnson
Mixed doubles final
Sandya Cassie/Leon Cassie v Sonja Cassie/Stephon Butcher
Girls doubles final
Curleen Sydney/Sonja Cassie v Erin Haynes/Sandya Cassie
U-14
Boys singles
Niral Ramlal v Aleem Ali
Girls singles
Ralitsa Wong v Ananda Ramsingh
Mixed doubles semifinals
Anada Ramsingh/Aleem Ali v Shalom Fraser/Brandon Graham
Ralitsa Wong/Niral Ramlal v Jena-Marie Guiseppi/Reynaldo Sinanan
Boys doubles final
Arion Lal/Zared Gopaul v (winner of Aleem Ali/Niral Ramlal v Brandon Graham/Makenzie Legen)
Girls doubles final
Curtisha Cudjoe/Kia Harris v (winner of Ralitsa Wong/Ananda Ramsingh v Celeste Fraser/Nasya Jones)
U-16
Boys singles semifinals
Will Lee v Raphael Kelly
Jaron Ramsundar v Adrian Nicholson
Girls singles final
Jada Renales v Brittney Mohammed
Mixed doubles semifinals
Jada Renales/Will Lee v Shanika Ramlochan/Nirmal Koonoolal
Ashisha Persad/Adrian Nicholson v Callicia Fleary/Joshua Smith
Girls doubles semifinals
Tanya Rampersad/Tiffany v Alexia Suite/Nikitha Yenugonda
Jada Renales/Ashisha Persad v Shalom Fraser/Callicia Fleary
U-18
Boys singles semifinals
Jason Ramjass v Brandon Constantine
Sheraz Nabbie v Johann Labastide
Girls singles semifinals
Kristi-Reno Singh v Reneeta Ramsingh
Hannahleel Bones v Akeila Pascall
Girls Doubles final
Reneeta Ramsingh/Shanika Ramlochan v Akeila Pascall/Kristi Reno-Singh