Two more crowns for TT

TRINIDAD and Tobago star Rheann Chung won her second title and Anthony “Sandfly” Brown and Dexter St. Louis carried the men’s team to their first at the 44th Caribbean Table Tennis Championships, currently being played at the University of the West Indies Sports and Physical Centre, St Augustine. Chung and St Louis, both based in France where they campaign with Cam Bordeaux, teamed up on Thursday, the fourth day of competition, to win the mixed doubles title. The Trinidad and Tobago pair, after winning the first set of the final 11-8, saw their Aruban opponents Andy Gomes and Alexandra Cano level the tie in the second by a similar 11-8 score. But stung into action, St Louis and Chung went on to an 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9 scoreline to crown themselves the 2004 Mixed Doubles champs.

St Louis and Chung cruised into the final with a comfortable 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 victory over Puerto Rican pair Juan Revelles and Jerica Marrero, but Gomes and Cano were made to struggle to overcome Jody Ann Blake and Matthew Khan of Guyana 11-9, 6-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-8. St Louis and “Sandfly” Brown won the men’s doubles title, beating Venezuelan pair Antonio Herrera and Henry Mujica in a thrilling final. After winning the first set 11-7,  Mujica/Herrera and knotted up the scores by taking the second 13-11, the teams continued to trade sets until St Louis and Brown prevailed.  They won 11-7, 11-13, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9. St. Louis and Brown had to overcome the intimidating Elis Ronclon and Antonio Giannini of Venezuela in their semi-final. The Venezuelans having beaten the local pair in both meetings earlier were favoured to progress.

But the Trinidadians were not to be denied this time, after losing the first set 11-5, they smashed their way into the final 5-11, 14-12, 12-10, 11-3. Herrera and Mujica beat Puerto Rican pair Santiago Coste and Juan Revelles 12-10, 5-11, 11-3, 17-15 in their semi-final. Earlier Chung and Aleena Edwards, after taking a two-set lead in their doubles match, saw Venezuelans Cruz Aguilar and Michelle Leal bounce back to oust them from the final. Chung and Edwards led 11-1, 11-9, but Leal and Aguilar found their rhythm and reeled off three straight 11-7, 11-6, 11-9. But the Venezuelan pair were no match for Aruba’s Sue Ann Leong and Alexandra Cano who beat them 11-6, 11-9, 11-9 in the final. Yesterday the Masters, Girls and Boys Under-21 singles produced disappointing results for the boys with none of the 13 Trinidad and Tobago representatives making it past the quarter-finals where Khaleel Asgarali, the best of the lot was eliminated 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 by Jose Ramirez of Guatemala.

But Chung qualified for tomorrow’s Girls Singles final after beating Guyana’s Trenace Lowe 11-8, 11-9, 11-5 in the second round. She whipped  Alexandra Cano 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 in the quarter-finals and Jerrica Marrero 11-6, 12-10, 11-9, 11-8 in the semi-finals. She meets Edelwais Chajchalac in the final after the Guatemalan beat Guyana’s Vida Moore 11-7, 12-10, 8-11, 11-9. Trinidad and Tobago masters Nas Asgarali and Lionel Darceuil will meet in the final after Asgarali beat another Trinidadian Selwyn Singh 11-7, 11-7, 11-9 and Darceuil beat David Llewellyn of St. Vincent and the Grenadines 11-5, 11-3, 11-2. The men’s, women’s and Masters finals will be played tomorrow. Preliminary rounds of the men’s and women’s singles began late yesterday.