Guyanese players dominate Trinidad’s ‘Silver Bowl’

Mar 19, 2014 Sports

– Edghill strikes gold thrice, Britton at his best

Chelsea Edghill ended Trinidad and Tobago’s Aleena Edwards’ win streak in a pulsating and nail-biting fashion when the Guyanese player came from behind to win a thrilling five-set final in the Women’s Singles of the Silver Bowl Table Tennis Championships at Central Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Chaguanas, last weekend.

Chelsea Edghill and
Idi Lewis

The ten-time Trinidadian national champion fought so desperately to keep the streak alive that she saved an incredible eight match points before finally hitting a forehand long to put an end to one of the most dramatic sets of table tennis seen in Trinidad in a very long time.
Edghill, the 2012 Caribbean Under-21 runner-up, who was Guyana’s Junior Sportswoman of the Year last year, her third such accolade, jumped for joy after clinching the marathon game on the 12th match point, 22-20.
The 16-year-old Edghill led for most of the decider, but she had been forced to play catch-up leading up to it as she had to battle back after losing both the first and fourth games. The final score was: 7-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 22-20.
After winning all four tournaments she contested at home last year, Edwards was triumphant in the Classified Championships in January and was one point away from capturing her sixth major title in succession before the prolific Guyanese stopped her.
Edghill, who had taken down Edwards in three straight games en route to being crowned champ in the Super Singles Tournament the last time she was in Trinidad December 2012, also captured the Under-18 and 21 Silver Bowl titles.
Meanwhile, Guyana’s Shemar Britton gained sweet revenge when he won the Men’s Singles title after Trinidad’s Arun Roopnarine had beaten him en route to picking up the Under-18 crown.
The left-handed Britton had the last laugh when he won the clash of the teenagers for the men’s crown. The 15-year-old Queens College student, who was our Youth in Focus three weeks ago, had gone under after securing the first two games, but bounced back from a game down twice to eventually prevail 6-11, 11-6, 6-11, 13-11 and11-7.

Shemar Britton

Britton also gained sweet revenge over Aaron Wilson as he trounced the Tobago Open champ 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 in the quarter-finals after losing in four games when they squared off in the Under-21 semis. The top-ranked junior in Guyana then whipped Alaric Humphreys 11-7, 11-8, 12-10 to book his place in the title match.
Roopnarine, who trailed Kenwin Small 7-9 in the decider before winning the last four points to survive the “round of 16”, gained revenge over Humphreys’ brother Curtis, 13-11, 10-12, 11-4, 6-11, 11-8 in the other semi-final.
Defending champ Reeza Burke was the top seed, but the five-time national champ was stunned 3-11, 16-14, 5-11, 13-11, 12-10 in the first round of the knockout draw by another Guyanese, Edghill’s brother, Kyle.
In the women’s semis, Chelsea beat 2012 champ Linda Partap-Boodhan 11-8, 11-7, 11-5, while Edwards got the better of 1963 (not a misprint) national champ Merle Baggoo 11-3, 11-9, 12-10. Baggoo had shocked Brittany Joseph, who was crowned 2012 national champ at age 14, 14-16, 11-4, 12-10, 11-3 in the quarters.
Former Caribbean Boys’ Champion and Men’s Singles bronze medallist, now national coach, Idi Lewis, who operates out of the Malteenoes Sports Club, is the Coach of the Edghills and Britton, and was on the recent tour to Trinidad compliments of Wartsila. (Edited and reprinted from the Trinidad Express)