Senior Multimedia Reporter
Trinidad and Tobago’s Chloe Fraser had to settle for the silver medal for the second time in three years at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Americas Caribbean Youth Championships yesterday when the curtain came down at the table tennis pavilion of Parque del Este in the Dominican Republic.
This was after the France-based player, who was the runner-up in the 2024 final, was upstaged by Antigua and Barbuda’s Stuti Kashyap, 13-15, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9, 11-13, and 8-11 in the Girls Under-19 singles final in the Dominican Republic.
Interestingly, Fraser, 17, is coached by local player Curtis Humphreys while Kashyap is coached by T&T 12-time national women’s champion Aleena Edwards.
It was the second silver medal in two days for Fraser at the 2026 competition, who combined with Jordan Thong for the runner-up spot in their age-group doubles final on Tuesday, beaten by Kashyap and her ST Lucian partner Shatal Charles. While Fraser and Thong teamed up with Jannah Mohammed for bronze in the team competition on Saturday.
When the tournament resumed yesterday morning, Fraser first defeated Puerto Rican Valentina Davila in their semifinal 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, and 11-4, while Kashyap humbled her gold medal doubles teammate Charles 11-7, 11-6, 11-9, and 11-5 in the other.
On Tuesday, Fraser won her best-of-seven sets round-of-16 meeting with the Dominican Republic’s Eduanni Figueroa 11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, and 11-6 before she came from behind to oust Puerto Rico’s Kailyn Cruz Rosado 10-12, 11-6, 11-4, 11-9, and 11-3 in their quarterfinal.
A day earlier in the round-robin phase, Fraser was the first T&T player to qualify from her group series when she topped Group Three with wins over Dominican Republic’s Arianna Mejia (11-2, 11-6, 11-7) and Charles (11-6, 11-7, 11-8) for a 2-0 win-loss record.
But, in the Girls Under-15 singles semifinal, Mohammed had to settle for the bronze medal after she was defeated in her semifinal by Puerto Rican Aurora Bonome 4-11, 9-11, and 5-11.
On Tuesday, Mohammed won her best-of-five quarter-final meeting with Puerto Rico’s Brianna Rodriguez 12-10, 9-11, 11-5, and 11-8.
When the round-robin phase took place on Monday, Mohammed pulled out all the stops to beat Violet Jimenez 11-3, 11-9, 10-12, 9-11, and 12-10 to secure the second spot in Group Five to advance.
In her opener, Mohammed crushed Jamaican Tahierra Allison 11-2, 11-4, and 11-5 but then went under to hometown player Eliana Martinez, 3-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8, and 11-13.
The other semifinal saw the Dominican Republic’s Lesli Perez battling past Puerto Rico’s Milena Valle Rivera 11-5, 11-8, 5-11, 9-11, and 11-4.
Overall, T&T players ended with six medals, including four silver and two bronze medals.
Last weekend, T&T also secured bronze medals in the Under-15 Boys via the quartet of Mateo Mollineau, Ethan Mohammed, Jared Simon, and Daniel Bhim, while the Under-19 Boys foursome of Jonathan Cottoy, Malik Gopaul, Raees Elahie, and Josiah Joseph also bagged team bronze.
