The Caribbean Region Table Tennis Federation Mini (Under-13) and Pre-Cadet (Under-11) Championships are now underway at the Pabellion De Tenis De Mesa in the Dominican Republic, and Barbados is represented by a five-member team.
In the U13 boys singles, Maleeq Aimey (St George Secondary School) comes in ranked 8th, whilst Cairo Ifill (The St Leonard’s Boys School) is seeded 17th. In the U11 singles, the Barbados boys came in at 8th, 9th, and 10th – Scott Galbraith, Nyal Bushell, and Camalli Ifill.
In the U13 division, Barbados played two games in the group phase. In the first, they lost 3-0 to Cuba, Yadiel Hernandez winning 11-5, 11-8, 11-9 over Aimey; Andy Maqueira dropping just four games in defeating Ifill 11-1, 11-1, 11-2’ and Cuba winning the doubles 11-2, 11-1, 11-4.
Aimey and Ifill recovered, however, to take a 3-1 win from Guyana. Ifill won 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 over Rainsford Belfield; Aimey then down 2-11, 7-11, 4-11 against Abiniora Johnson to even the tie. Barbados went ahead with an 11-4, 11-6, 11-6 victory in doubles, before Aimey overcame Belfield 12-10, 11-6, 11-6.
That saw the lads through to the quarterfinal round, where the Barbados duo met the home team and suffered an 0-3 setback. Aimey was undone by Engel Silverio 11-1, 11-9, 4-11, 12-10; Angel Dominguiez held on to beat Ifill in three sets at 11-6 apiece; and the Dominican Republic took the doubles 12-10, 11-4, 11-6.
In the U11 division, Barbados were winless, losing 3-1 to Dominican Republic in the opening round, then handing Jamaica B a walkover in the 7th and 8th place playoff.
As has been the case in previous years, the 2024 tournament is being affected by inclement weather, with flooding from Hurricane Beryl being reported in Santo Domingo. At least one parent has reported high waters in the streets surrounding the hotel where Barbados is staying.
(TF)
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