Stanley Hunte, president of T&T Table Tennis Association (T&TTTA) says he is pleased with the performance of the local squad at the 57th Caribbean Senior Table-Tennis Championship, which concluded at the Trenelle Sports Palace, Riviere-Salee, Martinique, on Wednesday night.The T&T contingent, minus its two most high profile players in France-based Dexter St Louis and his step-daughter Rheann Chung, finished third with five bronze medals, led by 16-year-old Aaron Wilson who bagged two.
Wilson, the reigning Caribbean Junior singles champion and a student of Belmont Secondary got his medals after he reached the semifinals of both the men and Under-21 singles semifinal.He was also part of the men's quartet, which also featured national singles champion Yuvraaj Dookram, top-ranked local Curtis Humphreys and Arun Roopnarine, also 16, that got bronze in the men's team tournament.
Also getting bronze for T&T was the women's team of 11-times national singles champion Aleena Edwards, Brittany Joseph, Linda Partap-Boodhan and Catherine Spicer.The medal return for T&T may have come as a relief for Hunte and his association after it came under fire for the axing of St Louis.
St Louis, 47, a six-time national champion and winner of the Caribbean men's singles title in 2013, was axed by the Association who cited a need to develop younger players as the main reason.In addition to 2013, St Louis, who began his national team career also in Martinique won the regional singles in 1998, 2004, 2006 and 2009 and has also captured seven mixed doubles gold medals with Chung, the last also coming in 2013.
Chung, 30, a Caribbean singles champion in 2004, 2008, 2009, and 2012, was selected to the team, but declined the offer in protest of St Louis' axing.She was a key member of the T&T team which won the team crown in 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2013.However, speaking on the team's performance, Hunte was delighted for the contingent of mainly young locally-based talent, who he said has boosted the confidence of the table tennis fraternity with their performances.
The T&TTTA boss said: "It is crystal clear that our current crop of young players, with professional guidance and support can grow in stature to win medals internationally and make our twin island republic proud."Every member of this team, their coaches Ian Joseph, Reeza Burke and manager Ray Fermin,have put in hard work, overcome setbacks of lack of training venues and funding uncertainty and created a tremendous team spirit."
He boasted that the fact that T&T finished third of 12 teams meant all players qualified either first or second in their groups to be in main draw or final 16. He noted this was a noteworthy achievement that showed that no one was left behind."The proudest moments came in the men and women singles where everyone of our players achieved a final 16 appearance by either topping or placing second in their groups," said Hunte.
Hunte also singled out Humphreys, Roopnarine and Dookram for creditable performances even though they failed to get among the medals, and the standout play of teenager Wilson.
"The performances of our men in the final 16 where Humphreys had Emile Santos who has been Caribbean champion and is champion of Dominican Republic, in trouble before sucumbing in five sets, the overall play of Roopnarine with two wins against French Guyana, the fighting spirit of Dookram in the last 16 and of course the bronze medals of Wilson in the Under-21 and Open men singles and team event were highlights."
With regards to the women's team, he said, "Not to be outdone we saw Spicer securing a victory over Eva Brito, the highly ranked Dominican Republic champion in the Under-21 Women.According to Hunte, this allowed Spicer to obtain a favourable draw and reach the quarterfinal before falling in the quarterfinals to a Cuban.
"Both Aleena Edwards who also reached the quarterfinals as well and Brittany Joseph who had victories over eighth seeded Karla Brito, the younger sister of Eva Brito whilst Partap-Boodhan was a real team player.This tournament included a number of players who were ranked within the first 300 in the world.
Cuba topped the medal table with 16 medals (eighth gold, three silver and five silver) while Dominican Republic was second with 13 (one gold, six silver and six bronze). Guadeloupe won one gold, Martinique, silver and bronze and French Guyana, a bronze.
Medal winners
Team
Men: 1.Cuba; 2. Dominican Republic; 3. French Guyana & T&T; 5. Barbados; 6. St Lucia; 7. Martinique; 8. Guadeloupe; 9. Curacao; 10. St Vincent and The Grenadines; 11. Dominica; 12. St Kitts/Nevis
Women: 1. Cuba; 2. Dominican Republic; 3. T&T; 4. Guadeloupe; 5. Martinique; 6. French Guyana; 7. Dominica
Mixed Doubles: 1. Andy Pereira/Leisi Jimenez (Cuba); 2. Emil Santos/Eva Brito (Dom Rep); 3. Samuel Galvan/Johenny Valdez (Dom Rep) & Isaac Vila/Yasiris Ortiz (Dom Rep)
Men's Doubles: 1. Andy Pereira/Livan Martinez (Cuba); 2. Emil Santos/Samuel Galvan (Dom Rep); 3. Kevin Farley/Carlos Hernandez (Bar/Cuba) & Isaac Vila/David Vila (Dom Rep)
Women's Doubles: 1. Idalys Lovet/Leisi Jimenez (Cuba); 2. Lisi Castillo/Yuneisy Galvan (Cuba); 3. Yasiris Ortiz/Johenny Valdez (Dom Rep) & Eva Brito/Karla Brito (Dom Rep)
Masters Open (Over 45): 1. Lionel Dinga (Guadeloupe); 2. Joseph Dansicare (Martinique); 3. Jean-Marc Liege (Martinique) & Dave Williams (T&T)
Under-21:
Men: 1. Livan Martinez (Cuba); 2. Isaac Vila (Dom Rep); 3. Aaron Wilson (T&T) & Carlos Hernandez (Cuba)
Open:
Men: 1. Andy Pereira (Cuba); 2. Emil Santos (Dom Rep); 3. Ritchie Palton (French Guyana) & Aaron Wilson (T&T)
Women: 1. Lisi Castillo (Cuba); 2. Leisi Jimenez (Cuba) 3. Idalys Lovet (Cuba) & Yueisy Galvan (Cuba).