Seepaul, Cassie poised for badminton honours

Reigning national champions Anil Seepaul and Sabrina Cassie have advanced to three senior finals of the Trinidad and Tobago Badminton Association Invitation  tournament at the Central Regional Indoor Sports Arena (CRISA), Chaguanas.

Seepaul was due to do battle with Kerwin Pantin in the men’s singles final while Cassie will take on Zeudi Mack for the women’s crown. Three-time national champion Seepaul will return to the court together with former national champion Ronald Clarke as they tackle former senior champions pair of Daron Dasent and David Lee Kim for the men’s doubles title. Seepaul, seeking a triple title, teams up with Mack and they clash with the Clarke/Cassie tandem in the mixed doubles final. Cassie and Mack are involved in the round robin women’s doubles play-offs.

On Tuesday evening at CRISA, the experienced pair secured a comfortable 11-1 and 11-0 victory over Daysha Francis and Kimberly Lovero. The Stephanie Mitchell/Nadine Julien pair is the other team involved in the ladies’ doubles competition. Seepaul whipped Christopher Joaquim 15-1 and 15-0 in the quarter-final and then upstaged former champion David Lee Kim 15-2 and 15-2. His junior counterpart Pantin made light work of Shaun Sookdeo 15-8 and 15-0 and then turned back the challenge of Devon Kooblal 15-12 and 9-15 in the quarter-finals and improving Sarajudeen Mohammed 15-12, 9-15 and 15-11 in the semi-final. The Seepaul/Clarke duo won by default over the Patrick Cunningham/Sarajudeen Mohammed pair in the semi-final when Mohammed was unable to continue after complaining of dizziness in the second set.

Seepaul and Clarke led 15-10 and 7-2 when they gained the default victory. The experienced Dasent/Lee Kim pair proved too much for Pantin/Jeremy Lewis duo, which folded up at 15-2 and 15-7. Seepaul and Mack gained walk-over victories in their mixed doubles encounters. The semi-final against Stephanie Mitchell and Sarajudeen Mohammed was not contested because Mohammed could not finish his men’s doubles encounter. On the other hand, the Clarke/Cassie pair was on a roll. They defeated Erwin Pantin and Kimberley Lover 9-11, 11-2 and 11-6 and then held on to oust Cunningham and Nadine Julien in the “semis” 13-10 and 11-3.