Mixed fortunes for Guyana at Jr Pan Am Hockey C/Ships

Apr 12, 2023 Sports

– Guyanese men grabs win against Barbados; women struggle in loss to Canada

By Rawle Toney

Kaieteur News – Day Two of the Junior Pan Am Hockey Championships in Barbados, saw the Guyanese male and female teams earning mixed results.

Though impressive on opening day, the men’s team fell 0-3 to a sturdy USA line-up, but after heading back to the drawing board, Coach Robert Fernandes’ troops produced a match-winning performance, thanks to a lone goal from Shaquan Favorite, as Guyana walked away with a 1 – 0 victory over the home team (Barbados).

Favorite scored a field goal in the 13th minute, and while the team had several other goal-scoring opportunities, they settled for a single strike and three points.

Guyana’s final Group B match is against Canada tomorrow.

The Canadians are on top of the table with a superior goal difference than the Guyanese and the USA, having won their opening match 6 – 0 against Barbados.

Guyana’s Daniel Woolford and Jobari Lovell chasing Barbados’ Cekae Husbands-Forte during their Jr Pan Am Hockey C/Ship match.

The USA are second following their 3 – 0 win over Guyana, while the men from the Land of Many Waters are third on the table with a -2 goal difference.

Meanwhile, the Guyanese women, competing at the tournament for the first time, went down 0-12 to Canada yesterday.

In an interview with Kaieteur News before their departure, Coach Phillip Fernandes said the Guyana Hockey Board’s expectations of the women are “modest” while calling their participation this year “very important for the development of sustenance of the game.”

Part of the action between Guyana and Canada in the women’s Jr Pan Am Hockey C/Ship. (Photo Credit: Pan Am Hockey)

“When our junior athletes are robbed the opportunity of playing internationals, by the time they get to the senior level, they are so far behind in terms of experience with the other senior players with which they come up against and that it is a disadvantage to us in a lot of ways,” Fernandes said.

Fernandes, who also serves as the GHB’s president, added, “We (GHB) thought that it should be made a priority for us to try to expose our youth to international competition early so that they could also develop in the manner that they should.”

The women will play Barbados today, followed by their final Pool B game on April 14 against Chile.

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Barbados, Canada, Coach Robert Fernandes, Guyanese, Junior Pan Am Hockey Championships

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