Chequeda De Boulet and Alistair Espinoza of club Shuttleforce walked away with the Senior Player of the Year awards at the T&T Badminton Association's Prizegiving Ceremony on Saturday at the National Racquet Centre in Tacarigua.
Both players were undisputed champions in their respective categories at the Solo National Seniors, both winning triple crowns, but De Boulet extended her achievements at the Solo Juniors by securing the singles and mixed doubles.
The St Joseph's Convent (San Fernando) student enjoyed an almost unblemished record with successes at the Caribbean Regional Badminton Confederation (CAREBACO) Junior International 2018 in Paramaribo, Suriname, claiming three medals, before taking the top spot and silverware at the National Juniors at the Sangre Grande Multi-Purpose Complex.
T’shelle Barnes, the Under 11 female prodigy was adjudged the top player in her age bracket while Travis Sinanan and Cathline Ramroop were each voted top players in the U-15s. Vance Juteram, a bronze medal winner at the CAREBACO and Kristy Diljohn were named the Under-17 Players of The Year, and Andrew Babwah was the choice for the Under-11 male award.
However, Shuttleforce, the Valencia-based club has expressed concern over club FMT, the badminton association's preferred choice for the Club of the Year award. Yesterday, a top club official told Guardian Media Sports that a letter questioning the criteria used in determining the club of the year award, was sent on Friday to TTBA officials and they are still awaiting a response.
In fact, Shuttleforce had initially also challenged the choice of Wendell Labastide, the club's assistant coach, for the coach of the year award, despite the work of its head coach Derwin Renales. This was however changed at the last minute and Renales received the top coach's award.
2018 HONOUR'S ROLL
U11 Male- Andrew Babwah: U-11 Female - T’shelle Barnes: U-13 Male - James Babwah: U-13 Female - Sanna Guria: U-15 Male - Travis Sinanan: U-15 Female - Cathline Ramroop, U-17 Male - Vance Juteram: U-17 Female - Kristy Diljohn: U-19 Male - Nathaniel Khillawan: U-19 Female - Chequeda De Boulet
OVERALL CATEGORIES:
Senior Male - Alistair Espinoza:
Senior Female - Chequeda De Boulet
Masters - Ronald Clarke
Andre Lewis
Most Improved Male - Nathaniel Khillawan
Most Improved Female- Cathline Ramroop
Club of the Year- FMT
Coach of the Year- Derwyn Renales
Junior Player of the Year Male- Andrew Babwah
Junior Player of the Year Female- Chequeda De Boulet
Senior Player of the Year Male- Alistair Espinoza
Senior Player of the Year Female- Chequeda De Boulet