T&T's Simon Blake and Daneil Williams ended 13th at the 2013 Norceca Beach Circuit, at the US Olympic Training Center, Chula Vista, California on Saturday, the penultimate day of competition.
After missing qualification to the quarterfinals with a 1-2 record in round-robin Pool H play, the Toco-born duo had a default win over USA-3 pairing Will Montgomery and Avery Drost to end the tournament with two wins and as many defeats.
However, their points ratio percentage compared to the three other ninth to 16th place quarterfinal winners was only good enough for 13 spot.
When the tournament started on Friday, Blake and Williams swept past Hondurans Luis Coto and Manuel Serrano 21-16, 21-17 but were then beaten by USA-B Nick Lucena and Theo Brunner, 10-21, 14-21 before losing a must-win clash with USA-A duo Tri Bourne and John Hyden 12-21, 7-21.
On Friday, Lucena and Brunner beat their compatriots Bourne and Hyden, 21-15, 21-15 and completed pool play with a 21-13, 21-16 defeat of Coton and Serrano to end with a 3-0 record.
In Saturday's main draw quarterfinals, Puerto Rico's Hector Soto and Roberto Rodriguez, runners-up last month in Puerto Rico, brushed aside Guatemalans Julio Recinos and Erick Garrido 21-13, 22-20; Lucena and Brunner stopped Costa Ricans Julio Alvarez and Diego Alpizar 21-9, 21-16; Hyden and Bourne stormed past Canadians, Andrew Hinchey and Ryan Vandenburg 21-10, 21-12 and Canada's Michael Plantinga and Cameron Wheelan came from behind to beat Mexico's Mario Barragan and Julio Manrique 17-21, 21-17, 16-14.
In the semifinals yesterday, Lucena and Brunner faced Wheelan and Plantinga while Hyden and Bourne came up against Soto and Rodriguez.
Last month in Puerto Rico, Blake and Williams were ninth from 16 teams, while two weeks earlier T&T's Colin Bernard and Fabien Whitfield had a 0-4 performance in Mexico for 15th spot from 16 teams.
So far this season, Blake and Williams had a best finish of fifth in the third leg at Campo Marte Park, Guatemala City, Guatemala, back in April, while they were 11th out of 16 men's teams in the opening tournament of the season, in Cayman Islands in March, and seventh of 13 teams in the second leg in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic, also in March.
In the women's tourney, four teams went undefeated on the first day of pool play in Puerto Rico; Mexico and Costa Rica all went 2-0 on Friday along with both teams from the USA. In Pool A, Puerto Rico's Darian Acevedo and Vanessa Velez beat Cayman Islands' Jessica Wolfenden and Cristin Alexander in straight sets 2-0 (21-17, 21-16). They had a tougher time against the Canada-A team of Claudia Seguin and Brandie Wilkerson before winning 2-1 (24-22, 14-21, 15-8). In Pool C, the Mexico-A team of Martha Ravuelta and Bibiana Candelas won matches against St Kitts & Nevis' Brenda Allen and Shanicia Dyer 2-0 (21-12, 21-10) and the sisters of Guatemala-B Maria Jose Orellana and Maria Andrea Orellana 2-0 (21-9, 21-13).
In the women's competition, USA-A duo Heather Hughes and Lane Carico will play the Mexico-A team of Martha Revuelta and Bibiana Candelas in one semifinal while in the other, the USA-B pair of Sarah Day and Kaitlin Nielsen will face the Mexico-B team of Itzel Santoyo and Stephanie Burnside.
On a hot and breezy Saturday, Revuelta and Candelas advanced with a 21-13, 21-14 semifinal victory over the Dominican Republic's Diana Peguero and Nairobi Agramonte;
Hughes and Carico defeated the Canada-A Claudia Seguin and Brandie Wilkerson 21-13, 21-13; Day and Nielsen swept Costa Rica's Karen Cope and Natalia Alfaro 21-13, 21-12 and Santoyo and Burnside outlasted Puerto Rico's Dariam Acevedo and Vanessa Velez 13-21, 21-15, 15-12
T&T was not represented by a women's team after failing to register on time.
Next up will be St Lucia on the weekend where T&T's Joseph/Dyette and Woodroffe/Phillip will all compete along with one of the T&T men's team. The remainder of the tour for this season will feature stops in Costa Rica (October 30 to November 4) and T&T, from November 13 to 18.
?