Britton advances to round of 32
GUYANA served off its Central American and Caribbean Championship singles campaign on Sunday in Santo Domingo,the Dominican Republic.
National champion Shemar Britton, along with teammates Jonathan Van Lange, Elishaba Johnson and Niron Bissu, each began in the singles competition.
Britton, the most experienced member of the team, showed his quality when he took on Gabriel Quiros; it was a slam dunk as he captured a 3-0 win, beating Quiros 11-7, 11-6 and 11-8.
Britton’s toughest outing came against world-ranked player, the Dominican Republic’s Rafael Cabrera, and the encounter went the distance.
The Guyanese lost the first two sets, 12-10 and 11-4, but came back roaring to win the next three sets on the trot.
He won the third set 12-10 to change the momentum before winning 11-4 and 11-9 in the next two sets for the victory, which assured his advance to the round of 32.
The top-ranked player continued his battle late last evening in the round of 32, and predicts going all the way in the singles category.
“I have a good chance of winning the singles. There are a lot of world-class players, but when I’m at my best, I believe I can go deep in this tournament.”
Elishaba Johnson opened with a defeat to Guatemala’s Ricardo Gatica 3-0, but impressed against Azizi Johnson of Jamaica.
Niran Bissu suffered a loss at the hands of Isaac Vila of the Dominican Republic 3-0 and Barbados’ Mark Dowell.
Next up was Jonathan Van Lange, who lost to Puerto Rico’s Jabdiel Torres 3-0 and the DR’s Abit Tejada.
Meanwhile, the nation’s men’s team captured their lone win in the consolation round on Saturday.
Guyana failed to advance out of their group into the semi-finals after losses to El Salvador and Mexico.
Playing in their final team clash on Saturday, the locals beat St Vincent in straight sets, 3-0.
National champion Britton told the Guyana Chronicle that they were competitive, but some crucial matchups didn’t go their way, which ultimately led to the loss.
“The team had a very tough draw in the team events in Mexico, a team with three world-class players. We gave a very good showing against El Salvador, but a few points didn’t go our way, so we went down 3-2 in that match, but as I’ve said before, this is a young team that will only learn from these experiences and grow as we prepare for the CAC games.”
Britton had earlier, in the Dominican Republic, led his men’s team to qualification for the CAC games after emerging victorious in a qualifier tournament.
They beat Haiti 3-0 and Trinidad 3-0, but lost to Costa Rica to finish second place in their group.
The second place earned them a spot at the CAC games from July 24 to August 8, 2026, also in the Dominican Republic.
Guyana’s men qualify alongside Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador, St Lucia, Venezuela, Barbados, and Costa Rica for the games.
