France-based Chloe Fraser and Imani Edwards-Taylor were the lone T&T players to advance from their respective round-robin groups for the men's and women's singles competition, which resumes at the Senior Caribbean Table Tennis Federation Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Tuesday from 9.30 am.
This after Fraser played unbeaten in her three-player group for a 2-0 record and top spot, while Edwards-Taylor was the runner-up in her round-robin qualifiers on Sunday night.
The 17-year-old Fraser, a two-time national women's champion dominated El Salvador’s Kenny Orellana 11-6, 11-3, 11-2 and Jamaican Nevaeh Scott 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 in Group Six to storm into the knockout stage and will face Group Nine runner-up Yasiris Ortiz of Dominican Republic in the round-of-32 from 9.30 am while reigning T&T women's champion Edwards-Taylor, 20, was beaten by Mexico’s Clio Barcenas 6-11, 6-11, 13-15 but rebounded to defeat Barbadian Anthonette Riley 11-9. 11-6. 4-11, 12-10 for the runner-up spot in Group Seven to advance to a meeting with the Group Eight winner, Cuban Daniela Fonseca.
T&T's other player in the women's draw, Jordan Thong, finished bottom of her three-player Group Five series after falling to Dominican Republic’s Eva Britto 3-11, 4-11, 5-11 and El Salvador’s Angie Orellana 7-11, 5-11, 11-7, 13-15.
In the men’s singles, T&T's Josiah Joseph was beaten in his Group One matches by Mexico's Rogelio Castro 8-11, 3-11, 3-11 and Edgado Sanches of El Salvador, 6-11, 6-11 6-11, 11-7, 4-11; Malik Gopaul fell in his Group Two clashes with Puerto Rico's Angel Naranjo 4-11, 2-11, 6-11 and Mexico’s Dario Arce 4-11, 9-11, 5-11; Anson Lowkie went under to Mexico’s Marcos Madrid 6-11, 11-13, 4-11; Barbadian Ramario Gill 8-11, 4-11, 14-12, 9-11 and St Lucian Leshon Francis 11-7, 6-11, 1-11, 5-11 in Group Three; and in Group Eight, Abhai Lal was outplayed by Jamaican Brian Blake 10-12, 5-11, 7-11; Dominican Republic’s Yoel Mendoza 6-11, 1-11, 2-11 and Cuban Jorge Campos 3-11, 4-11, 2-11.
Yesterday, saw the start of the mixed doubles with the local pair of Joseph and Edwards-Taylor losing to St Lucians De Andre Calderon and Zarianne Anthony 6-11, 10-12, 10-12 in the round-of-32 while Gopaul and Fraser received a first round bye before being ousted by Mexico's Marcos Madrid and Clio Barcenas 4-11, 7-11, 4-11 in the last-16.
T&T's lone pair in the women's doubles, Fraser and Thong put up a valiant effort in their 11-7, 4-11, 9-11, 12-14 loss to Dominican Republic's Eva Britto and Arianna Estrella in the round-of-16 while in the men's doubles round-of-32, Lal and Lowkie were no match for Guyana's Shemar Britton and Jonathan Van Lange and bowed out 2--11, 7-11, 5-11 while Gopaul and Joseph succumbed 5-11, 3-11, 5-11 to Dominican Republic's Alexander Tejada and Dariel Del Rosario.
