DESPITE going down by a slim margin in the final round of the Jeet brothers (USA)-sponsored three-way aggregate dominoes tournament, International 6 prevailed to emerge champions when the competition climaxed at Cold Fusion, Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo, last Sunday.

The eventual winners tallied 231 games, five more than second-placed Cold Fusion on 225 and Canal 6, who were edged out on 224. The winning margin marked the exact difference between International 6 and Cold Fusion after both teams had entered the final round tied on 156 and Canal 6 trailing on 151.

The first round, played at Nicky’s Restaurant & Bar, Canal Number One, saw Cold Fusion taking an early lead with 78 games with International 6 three games behind on 75 and the home team lagging on 71.

Doodnauth led the way for the winners with 16 games while there were 13 each for Patram Seenarine, Tavindra Mangra and Ramjeet. The top players for International 6 were skipper Manniram Shew and Ron Callender with 16 and 15 games respectively while captain Ramroop Sukhai and Chibar Seopaul made 15 each for Canal 6.

Ronald Beharry of International 6 was the lone lovebird (first sitting) but returned to make two sixes in the second and third sittings.
In another close encounter, played at Everest Cricket Club, International 6 took the top spot with 81 games with Cold Fusion occupying second place on 81 and Canal 6 again in the cellar on 73.

For International 6, Mark Welch played through and marked an impressive 31 games while Sonia Goodluck (16) and Shew (14) also played well for the winners. Cold Fusion were led by Parmanand Jairam (16), Mangra (13) and Ramjeet (13). Canal 6 skipper Sukhai played through and tallied 30 games while Chibar Seopaul and Kedar Seopaul made 13 each.
In Sunday’s final round, Canal 6 avoided the ignominy of losing all three games, coming out on top with 80 games with International 6 trailing on 75 and Cold Fusion failing to get hot, ending on a disappointing 69 games.

Oudit Prittipaul was the star for Canal 6, marking the maximum 18 games while there were consistent scores of 14 each for Kedar Seopaul and Basdeo Persaud and 13 each from Sukhai and Avinash Persaud. Hilbert Ali topped for International 6 with 17 with 13 each coming from Shew, Andrew Hope and Goodluck.

Cold Fusion’s top player was Jairam with the maximum 18 games while Ramjeet had 13. The lone lovebird was Ron Callender of International 6.

Both the winning and second-placed teams were awarded trophies. There were also prizes (caps) for the three top players in the winning team – Shew, Welch and Goodluck – while Shew also collected a clock for the overall best player.

Cold Fusion’s Patram and Canal 6’s Prittipaul also received clocks for their sterling performances.