By Calvin Chapman in Suriname

LAST night, team Guyana girls’ and boys’ basketball teams suffered heavy defeats in their opening fixtures of the 2023 Inter-Guiana Games tournament; both to French Guiana at the Ismay van Wilgen Sporthal.

In the male division they lost 90-76 while the females went down 64-23.
In the boys’ clash, Guyana stood a better chance even though they found themselves trailing by eight points in the first half. However, Guyana, which is coached by Courtenay Taylor and Warren Wilson, equalised before that period of play ended to have the score locked at 31-all.
But that gruelling comeback was reduced to nothing as French Guiana went on an enterprising 16-0 run and never looked back.
Kellon Phillips sunk an incredible game high 45 points for the Guyanese but did not have much contribution from his supporting cast as one other player made it to a double-digit score in Skipper Carmelo Man-Son-Hing with 14 points. Meanwhile, French Guiana had five players with double digit scores led by Hingile Laurent with 21 points.
Speaking to Chronicle Sport after the loss, assistant boys’ Coach Taylor posited that he is not too disappointed with the performance of the players and it shows that they are able to compete. He noted that they will regroup and come better in their clash against Suriname.
Earlier in the day, the Track & Field athletes showcased an impressive performance.

Guyana excelled in various events, securing 11 gold, six silver, and four bronze medals. Tianna Springer and Afri Blair earned gold in the 400m events. Javon Roberts, a CARIFTA gold medallist, added another gold in the Boys 13-17 1500m.
In other events, Marissa Thomas and Athaleyha Hinckson secured gold in the Girls 13-17 1500m and 100m, respectively. Despite missing gold in the Girls’ Javelin, Guyana claimed silver and bronze. In Boys’ Javelin, Kaidon Persaud secured gold.
Immanuel Adams leaped to gold in the Boys’ 13-18 Long Jump, while in Shot Put, Letifah James earned second place, and Jamie Fraser and Jaheme Henry won gold and bronze, respectively, in the Boys’ 13-17 category.

The Boys’ 4x100m relay team, consisting of Newton, Cornette, Robert Marcus, and Enoc Munroe, secured victory.
Opening day action also saw Guyana beating French Guiana 2-0, thanks to a brace from Omar Sam.
In Chess, Guyana female team play played Suriname and drew the match with Aditi Joshi and Maliha Rajkumar on boards 2 and 4 respectively, taking home early wins in an epic way.
Italy Chung had a hard-fought game but the Suriname top female player came out on top, Aniyah Couchman fought a epic match for the time break bringing the game down to the very end but lost a pawn and the game shortly after.

Guyana’s male team will play Suriname today while the females rest until tomorrow.