Despite facing tough opponents, including Olympians and professionals, Saint Lucia’s table tennis team delivered a commendable performance at the recently concluded Caribbean Regional Championships. National coaching coordinator Chris Wells expressed satisfaction with the team’s efforts, particularly highlighting the showing of rising star DeAndre Calderon.
Held at the Sir Garfield Sobers Sports Complex, the week-long tournament brought together the region’s top talent, with several Latin American squads fielding elite players. Yet, Saint Lucia held their own, with Calderon emerging as the team’s brightest performer. The two-time National Junior Sportsman of the Year won 10 of his 12 matches, including an impressive 4-0 sweep (11-6, 11-3, 11-3, 11-6) over Barbados’ Antonio Hamilton in the Round of 32.
His run was halted in the Round of 16 by Cuba’s Jorge Campos, a two-time defending champion and Olympian with multiple World Championship appearances. Calderon pushed the veteran hard before falling 4-2 (9-11, 13-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-5, 11-7) in a fiercely contested match.
“DeAndre was unseeded since he is not competing on a monthly basis on the world stage,” Wells explained. “That’s why he ended up in group 13 for the singles.
“Overall he had a great performance. He competed well against Campos, a two-time Olympian who has competed in World Championships three times, dating as far back as 2011. DeAndre was six when Campos was competing at the World Championships.”
Campos eventually reached the semifinals, as did Barbados’ Tyrese Knight, who eliminated Saint Lucia’s 16-year-old Manie Eleuthere in the Round of 32. Eleuthere, alongside Joshua Lubin, also competed in men’s doubles, narrowly losing to Trinidad & Tobago’s Aaron Wilson and Malik Gopaul in a hard-fought 3-2 (11-6, 10-12, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9) battle.
Looking ahead, Eleuthere and Lubin will represent Saint Lucia at the Pan Am Junior Games in Asuncion, Paraguay, later this summer – an opportunity to further hone their skills against regional peers.
