Derwin Colina and veteran Gilbert Paulina were both in double- figures as they guided underdogs Curacao to a 25-15, 17-25, 25- 23, 25-21 defeat of dethroned champions Bahamas for bronze at the 15th Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Men's Championship at the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo, yesterday.
Colina hammered down 18 kills in his team-high 20 points and Paulina fired in 13 kills in his 16 points tally while Norandy Bonafasia chipped in with nine, Rachid Isenua seven, and captain Henrich Daal, six in the one hour and 59 minutes see-saw battle. The podium finish for Curacao was its first since a silver medal in T&T in 2002 when Barbados was crowned champions. Byron Ferguson scored 16 points, inclusive of 12 kills and four blocks while captain Prince'tanique added ten , and Shonari Hepburn nine in the loss for the Bahamians, who lost hold of the crown after a fiveset tension-filled loss to host and 2010 champions T&T in Saturday's semifinal.
The fourth place finish was the Bahamians third in the history of the competition after a similar outcome in 1996 and 1998 in US Virgin Islands and Martinique respectively where Barbados won both times. In avenging the round-robin loss in five sets to Bahamas, Curacao held the narrow edge on spikes 45- 42 and service aces, 6-4, but was totally dominant on blocks, 13-8. On Saturday, host and 2010 champions T&T halted Bahamas chances of a repeat in a tense 27- 29, 25-22, 25-21, 21-25, 15-8 triumph to set up a gold medal clash with record ten-time winners Barbados who qualified for an unprecedented 12th final.
The star of the night for the locals was Simon Blake who was on top of his game with 29 points which included 24 kills and five service aces. European-based duo, Ryan Stewart and Marc-Anthony Honore added 13 points each for T&T while captain Nolan Tash got 11 and USAbased Mikheil Hoyte, eight in the encounter which lasted two hours and 44 minutes and was marred by a crowd disturbance with the fifth set.
The score was 9-3 in T&T's favour when a fracas erupted between a spectator and members of the Bahamian women's team, and after a lengthy stoppage, the match eventually resumed, not without some further hic-cups before it ended after 56 minutes. It was a historic win for T&T men as they qualified for the final for the first time on home soil after fourth placed finishes in the 1993 and 2002 editions, both won by the Barbadians.
For Bahamas, its captain Prince'- tanique Wilson ended with 17 points, 15 of which were kills while his teammates Renaldo Knowles got 13, Byron Ferguson 12, Shedrick Forbes, ten and Chauncy Cooper, eight. Despite the melee and few other stoppages, both teams managed produced a high quality contest with T&T holding the edge on spikes, 62-57 while both teams were even on blocks, 9-9 and on service aces, at six each.
T&T also committed less errors than its opponent, 33 to 36 as it avenged its loss in the final two years ago which also went five sets. Barbados will enter the final as slight favourites having defeated T&T in four sets in the round-robin meeting while the both teams have one title each in two previous final clashes.
The Bajans won their final showdown in 2006 while four years later T&T exacted revenge for its loone crown before being dethroned in the decider by Bahamas two years ago in St Croix, US Virgin Islands.