Fifteen-year-old rising star Manie Eleuthere was defeated in the National Day Under-19 Men’s Singles Table Tennis Tournament on Wednesday, but not before creating a massive upset in the semifinals.
Eleuthere, a student at Ciceron Secondary, lost to Joshua Lubin 4-3 (11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 7-11, 10-12, 11-9) in a thrilling final at the National Table Tennis Centre in Vide Boutielle. However, his journey to the final included a major upset over perennial domestic champion DeAndre Calderon in the semifinals.
The 2022 Under-13 Caribbean Singles and Teams Table Tennis Champion defeated the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) champion 4-3 (7-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-3, 12-10) in their semifinal match. Lubin, the eventual champion, secured his spot in the final after an intense battle with Dawitt Nurse that went down to the wire.
Despite Eleuthere not winning the final match, national table tennis coach Chris Wells said his accomplishment was phenomenal.
“He pulled a big upset defeating DeAndre – and that’s the first local defeat DeAndre suffered since 2018. So that is very good for Manie’s confidence and for the national junior team next year, which will be without DeAndre,” Wells said. “That’s a good boost in confidence for the team as a whole, knowing that, DeAndre will no longer be a junior next year with us to go to the PanAm qualifiers; however, we are filling in all the empty spots to make sure that we can work very hard and have the simple success with or without him.”
Wells highlighted Eleuthere’s potential, describing him as “extremely talented” with a strong future ahead.
“He has the power of an adult,” he remarked. “He was second at last year’s OECS Championship when he was 14 years; he’s now 15 years. And he just started doing the weight training and stuff like that a couple of months ago. So he is adding an extra element of power to his game.”
Overall, Wells said, the tournament was played at a high level, with intense competition between the hardworking youngsters. Saint Lucia has won multiple regional titles in the sport in recent years.
