Teague Marcano’s double strike ensured that the Trinidad and Tobago men’s hockey team advanced to the final of the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games play-offs Sunday, defeating Venezuela 2-1 as action resumed at the Field Hockey Stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Two days after Marcano’s hat-trick guided the men in the red, white, and black to a comprehensive 10-0 demolition of Guatemala at the same venue, the Holcombe Hockey Club’s recent signing proved his worth a second time, this time in a close contest with neighbours Venezuela. Marcano’s items came from penalty corners, converted after four attempts at goal.
However, in a match that proved to be relatively even with a 50-50 possession percentage, the T&T men may consider themselves fortunate to come away with the victory. The South Americans were the beneficiaries of seven penalty corners compared to T&T’s two in the 60-minute affair. From Venezuela’s seven penalty corners, they managed just a lone flick from Andy Adrian in the first quarter. Marcano’s goals came in the first two quarters.
The result means that T&T will now face Cuba in the final, after the Cubans edged the Mexicans 3-2 in the other semifinal contest.
Basketball 3×3
T&T succumbed to a heartbreaking 19-16 defeat against Mexico in their Men’s Pool B contest at the Sports Malecon Park yesterday.
The loss came a day after the country’s women’s team suffered an 12-11 defeat against Venezuela and 13-3 to Cuba at the same venue. This time, in a match that appeared tighter on paper but saw T&T struggling for answers, the T&T men could not contain the Mexican pair of Erick Barea and Julio Ruiz, both of whom drained seven points each to secure the win. Mexico’s Jose Zesati also contributed five points to help pull the victory away from the T&T men.
For T&T, the talented Tyrik Singh led the scoring with six points, with the equally talented Jabari Narcis contributing five and Jelani Valley adding four. Ahkeem Boyd, who was among the leading scorers for T&T at previous international tournaments, failed to find his rhythm and finished the match with just a single point.
In the women’s competition, the T&T unit suffered a 13-3 loss to Cuba in their second Pool C match on Saturday night. Combined with T&T’s earlier narrow loss to Venezuela (12-11), the local team finished last in Pool C and failed to advance. T&T earned 14 points overall to place last in the 12-team competition.
Basketball
At the Arena Banreservas, the T&T women’s basketball team aimed to finish in seventh spot but went down 59-38 to Nicaragua in their classification match.
The local women were outscored in every quarter: 14-5 in the first, 17-13 at the half, and 14-9 in the third before ultimately falling to a 21-point loss to place eighth overall.
Despite the result, Jameela James was a bright spark, leading the game with a match-high 15 points, while Kalimah Sookram added 10. The Nicaraguans delivered a more balanced team performance, seeing points flow from nearly all their players. However, Beyran Gonzalez stood out with a team-high 14 points, while the trio of Laisha Romero (8), Jahsury Anderson (7), and Leisha Hodgson (6) provided the necessary offensive support.
Squash
T&T’s squash pair of Marie-Claire Barcant and Marion Faith Gillezeau experienced mixed fortunes Sunday in the women’s singles.
Dominant players in domestic competitions, Barcant and Gillezeau comfortably cruised through the opening round with identical 3-0 victories over their opponents, but were later eliminated in the round of 16.
Barcant was all smiles after she triumphed 3-0 over Bermelyn Pena of Dominica in straight sets (11-8, 11-7, 11-2) in the round of 32. However, in the round of 16, her smiles turned to disappointment when she was brushed aside by Margot Prow of Barbados. Barcant proved to be no match for the Bajan, who quickly took the opening set 11-3 and sealed the win with consecutive victories in the next two sets, 11-3 and 11-1, to advance to the quarterfinals.
Gillezeau followed her compatriot with a confidence-boosting 3-0 triumph over Dominica’s Indhira Navarro (11-2, 11-7, 11-5), a result that also took her to the round of 16. However, she was stopped in her tracks there, going down to Lucia Bautista of Colombia 3-0 (11-3, 11-0, 11-1).
Table tennis
Team T&T was dumped out in the quarterfinal round of the table tennis team action. They started the day positively, holding off Costa Rica 3-2 in a dogged contest to reach the round of eight, where they faced Cuba.
Hoping for a strong start in the doubles, the pair of Imani Edwards and Rheann Chung could not replicate the dominance they showed against the Costa Ricans a day prior, falling 3-1 to the Cuban duo of Estela Crespo and Rosalba Aguiar (12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7).
Chloe Fraser then levelled the match at one apiece when she defeated Daniela Fonseca in a five-set thriller, 3-2 (11-4, 8-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-13). Unfortunately, that was all the team in red, white, and black could manage, as the Cubans prevailed in the remaining singles matches. Chung went down to Aguiar 3-1 (11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9), and Edwards failed to win a game as Fonseca prevailed comfortably against her, 12-10, 11-8, 11-9.
Volleyball
There was no luck for the country’s women’s volleyballers, who were beaten convincingly by Mexico at the Ricardo Arias Volleyball Palace yesterday.
T&T proved to be no match for their opponents and were swept aside in three straight sets, losing 25-10 in the opener before being humbled 25-14 and 25-12 in the subsequent sets.
Boxing
Tianna Guy had no answer for her Mexican counterpart, Paula Hernandez, when the two met in a women’s 60kg quarterfinal contest at the Combat Pavilion.
Guy, who is on the verge of transitioning from the amateur to the professional ranks, went down to her opponent, 4-1, which automatically ruled her out of a podium finish. In boxing, competitors are guaranteed at least a bronze medal once they reach the final four (semifinals). However, it was not to be for Guy yesterday; only one judge ruled the bout 29-28 in her favour, while the other four scored the fight 29-28, 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28 for the Mexican.
Shooting
T&T marksmen Roger Daniel and Rhodney Allen, along with Marsha Bullen-Jones, failed to advance to the finals in the men’s and women’s 10-metre air pistol events.
Daniel and Allen finished down the pecking order at 20th and 27th, respectively, in a field of 31, while Bullen-Jones placed 26th out of 27 competitors. Only the top eight shooters earned qualifying berths in both the men’s and women’s categories.
Sailing
Kelly Ann Mary Arrindell was the lone competitor for T&T to make a mark in the one-person women’s regional dinghy event at Salinas Beach.
Arrindell secured a maximum of four points for winning her race in a competitive field that included runner-up Daniela Rivera of Venezuela, Sofia Ann Bermudez of Colombia, and Nathalia Rodriguez of Dominica.
Cycling
Endurance riders Tariq Woods, Liam Trepte, and Akil Campbell struggled in yesterday’s men’s road race, which took place on Malecon Avenue.
In a race featuring some 40 riders, T&T’s best finish came from Woods in 30th place, while both Trepte and Campbell failed to finish. The race was won by Nicholas Gomez of Colombia, with Joseph Ramirez of Costa Rica taking the silver medal and Robert Gonzalez of Panama securing the bronze.
