Saint Lucia advanced to the quarterfinals of the men’s team competition at the Senior Caribbean Table Tennis Championships in Barbados. After losing their opener on Tuesday to the Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia bounced back on Wednesday with a 3-1 win over Guyana at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex. Saint Lucia next face Trinidad & Tobago.
Guyana got the tie off to a solid start with Shemar Britton, the top-rated player in the English-speaking Caribbean, defeating Saint Lucia’s number 2, Manie Eleuthere, 3-0 (13-11, 11-4, 11-7). But Saint Lucia’s number 1, DeAndre Calderon, drew level with a 3-1 (7-11, 11-2, 11-8, 11-4) win over Jonathan Van Lange.
Saint Lucia took the advantage through Joshua Lubin, winning 3-1 (11-4, 7-11, 11-5, 11-6) over Niran Bissu. And in a showdown between the top players for each team, Calderon handed Britton a hard-fought 3-1 (17-15, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9) defeat.
On Tuesday, the Dominican Republic swept Saint Lucia 3-0. Eleuthere lost to Ramon Vila 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 12-10), Calderon was beaten 3-2 (11-8, 5-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-7) by Rafael Cabrera, and Abit Tejada downed Lubin 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-9).
Trinidad & Tobago lost 3-0 to Cuba, and overcame Jamaica 3-1.
