Carenage Blasters, led by the trio of Aaron Wilson, Nicolai Barbour-Alexis and Luc O'Young, were crowned champions of the T&T Table Tennis Association National Championships Division One Team competition at the National Racquet Centre in Tacarigua on Sunday.
Blasters secured a 3-1 humbling of WASA's Curtis Humphreys, Joel Henry, Vinoo Maraj and Alaric Humphreys in the divisional final. This was after Blasters overcame Crusaders 3-2 in the semifinal and WASA blanked Hillview Renegades in their semifinals.
When the Group Stages took place on Saturday, Crusaders won the four-team Group A round-robin series with wins over Powergen (3-1), Blasters 'B' (3-1) and Hillview Renegades 3-1 as well.
Renegades secured the second spot after they defeated Blasters 'B' (3-1) but was beaten by a similar margin against Powergen, who in turn was outplayed by Blasters 'B' also by a 3-1 margin to leave all three teams with 1-2 record and the outcome to be determined via points won to points loss between the trio.
The outcome of Group Two was much more straightforward, with WAS beating Blasters 'A' 3-1, Hawks 3-1 and D'Abadie Youths 3-1 for a 3-0 record and six points, two more than Hawks, who won their other matches against Blasters 'A' 3-2 and D'Abadie Youths 3-1.
The duo of Jinai Samuel and Jordan Thong led Queen's Park Cricket Club (QPCC) to the Women's Team title with comfortable 3-0 triumphs over Tunapuna Hindu School, and Help Educate Youths (HEY), a 3-1 whipping of Siparia United and a walkover against La Pastora for a 4-0 record in the round-robin series. Tunapuna Hindu School was second while Siparia United secured the bronze.
In Division Two, QPCC team of Jonathan Cottoy, Luke Govia, and Imani Edwards-Taylor trounced the Blasters team of Aiden Noel, his brother Aaron Noel, Raees Elahie and Elizabeth Rajah 3-0. This after, QPCC battled past Powergen 3-2 in their final-four meeting, and Blasters topped Crusaders by a similar 3-2 margin as well.
Earlier in the round-robin group phase, QPCC blanked Crusaders and Couva Trailblazers both by 3-0 margins to qualify as Group A winners, with Crusaders second after their 4-0 defeat of Couva Trailblazers as well while in Group B, Blasters whipped Powergen 3-1 and Chase Village Smashers 3-0 to advance as group winners, with Powergen in the second spot courtesy their 3-0 victory over Chase Village Smashers.
The Crusaders team of Jonathan Alleyne, Ethan Mohammed, Satyan Singh, Yanik Monsegu, Aarav Basant and Rivaan Basant added a second title on the day when they got the better of Hawks quintet of Curtis Williams, Henry La Croix, Zayden Sagramsingh, Clay Francis and Michael Ramdeo, 3-1 in the Division Three decider.
When the knockout stage served off, Crusaders were handed a quarterfinal bye before they battled past Warrenville United 'A' 3-2 in their semifinals, while WASA also received a last-eight bye followed by a 3-1 semifinal victory against Powergen.
Powergen defeated La Brea Table Tennis Club 3-1 and Warrenville United 'A' blanked Warrenville United 'B' in the two quarterfinals.
Crusaders had earlier finished top of their three-team Group A round-robin series with wins over Arima Table Tennis Club 3-0 and Powergen 3-1, while Powergen took the second spot after a 3-0 defeat of Arima Table Tennis Club.
In Group B, Hawks defeated Warrenville United 'B' 3-1 and Tunapuna Hindu School 'B' 3-1, while Warrenville United 'B' also won 3-1 against Tunapuna Hindu School 'B' for the runner-up spot.
In Group C, Warrenville United 'A' emerged as the top qualifier with a 3-1 defeat of La Brea Table Tennis Club and 3-0 versus Tunapuna Hindu School 'A', while La Brea slammed Tunapuna Hindu School 3-0 as well.
