… Males bow out in semis

A RIVETING fightback from two-nil down by Natalie Cummings could not stop the Dominican Republic (DR) from winning the Pan Am Qualifiers table tennis on Monday night against home team Guyana (females), in a virtual final of the five-team competition at Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Cummings showed heart and determination in a clash against Esmerlyn Castro to spur life back into the local crowd, but the Dominican proved too strong and ended that clash 3-2, which helped the visitors to a come-from-behind 3-1 overall victory.
With the win, DR joined Puerto Rico (males) as the other team to advance to the Pan Am Games, scheduled to start in late July in Lima, Peru.

Guyana’s males were defeated in the semi-final of the men’s competition on Monday morning at the same venue. In that clash, the home team went down 3-0 to the DR. Christopher Franklin and Shemar Britton battled hard, but they could not overcome Samuel Galvez and Emil Santos in the doubles (8-11, 5-11, 8-11).

Joel Alleyne also fell 3-0 when he challenged Jiaji Wu 11-5, 11-6, 11-2. Britton, the defending U-21 Caribbean champion, proved the most competitive in his 3-1 (14-12, 6-11, 11-7, 11-4) loss to Santos.

VICTORY AGAINST JAMAICA
On Monday morning, the Trenace Lowe-led team eased past Jamaica to book their third straight win in the two-day competition.
Chelsea Edghill and Cummings easily defeated Sandra Riettie and Solesha Young in the doubles 3-0, (11-7, 11-4, 11-6), while Lowe beat Dadrian Lewis 3-0 (11-2, 11-6, 12-10). Cummings then battled back from an opening loss to win 3-1 (5-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-8) against Young.

TOUGH BATTLE
From the serve-off on Monday evening, Guyana knew they were in for a battle against DR. The levelheaded Lowe and spirited Edghill were able to counter the spin of Esmerlyn and the clinical finishes from the stoic Yasiris Ortiz for two games, which sent the vocal Guyanese supporters into frenzy.

However, unforced errors and a determined fightback from the visitors drew the clash even at 2-2 (11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 7-11) before the overseas-based Guyanese girls rallied back to close the game at 11-8.

Eva Brito, the number one seeded played last year, then made light work of Cummings in the next clash, although the latter battled through several long rallies. The 11-6, 11-4, 11-9 victory drew DR even, before Ortiz got past rival Lowe 3-1 (11-5, 10-12, 11-3, 12-10).

In the last game, Cummings locked horns with Castro, but the latter targetted her backhand and eased to a 2-0 lead (11-6 and 11-8), before the Guyanese woke up the crowd with a surprising two straight wins (11-9, 11-2). In the end, Castro emerged victorious with an 11-6 win.

On Sunday, Guyana females had defeated St Kitts & Nevis and Barbados 3-0 each, while the men had lost to Puerto Rico, but had beaten St Vincent and the Grenadines.