Guyanese athletes fall short on day four of Pan Am Games

Oct 22, 2023 Sports

By Rawle Toney

Kaieteur Sports – After the spectacular opening ceremony of the 19th Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, Guyanese athletes Raekwon Noel, Desmond Amsterdam, Priyanana Ramdhani, and Ceili Peterson took to the field with high hopes but fell just short of their desired outcomes.

Amsterdam entered the boxing ring yesterday, competing in the Men’s 80kg category against Gabriel Buonarrigo. Unfortunately, the Guyanese boxer was defeated 5-0 by his Argentine opponent.

Reflecting on his performance, Amsterdam expressed some disappointment but believed that the second and third rounds should have been scored in his favour.

Guyana’s Ceili Peterson (left) scores against Costa Rica’s Laura Sancho in the women’s 49kg Kyorugi. (Photo: GOA/Akeem Greene)

“But that’s how boxing goes; you win some, you lose some. It was a nice fight, I enjoyed it. It would’ve shown what we’ve worked on with the coach where we tried to change up things. But we’ll go back to the drawing board,” the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Sergeant said.

Meanwhile, Peterson, who is based in Canada, made her international debut for Guyana in Taekwondo and narrowly lost to Costa Rica’s Laura Sancho in the women’s 49kg Kyorugi, with a final score of 2-1.

Peterson lost the first round 2-3 but made a strong comeback in the second, winning 13-12. However, Sancho gained the upper hand in the third round and secured her victory with a score of 6-4.

“It was a pleasure representing Guyana,” Peterson said. “I did my best, the other athlete is a very experienced fighter, so she did a very good job. We’ll just have to go back to the drawing board and keep working on the things I did wrong, and hopefully, the next time, it will go my way.”

Desmond Amsterdam (right) rocks Argentina’s Gabriel Buonarrigo during there Men’s 80kg bout at the Pan Am Game

In swimming, Noel finished 15th overall in the men’s 400m freestyle event, clocking a time of four minutes and 5.82 seconds in the B final.

The gold medal in the men’s 400m freestyle was claimed by Guilherme Costa, who not only won the event but also broke the 2015 Pan Am record set by Canadian Ryan Cochrane (3:46.79).

Alfonso Mestre of Venezuela (3:47.62) finished second place, while American James Plage (3:50.74) took the bronze.

Following the race, Noel said he was happy with the execution of his race, calling his performance satisfactory. Noel will next compete in the 800m freestyle and 400m Individual Medley events.

Olympian Aleka Persaud is the other Guyanese wimmer at the Pan Am Games and will enter the pool today in the women’s 100m butterfly. Persaud will also compete in the 50m and 100m freestyle races.

In Badminton, Ramdhani was forced to retire hurt during the second set of her match against Brazil’s Juliana Viana.

Ramdhani had lost the first set with a score of 6-21 and was trailing 0-11 when she encountered a knee problem and couldn’t conclude her match.

Turning our focus to the upcoming events today, Weightlifters Krystol Chanderban and Shammah Noel will be participating in the Women’s 59kg and Men’s 89kg categories, respectively, at the Gimnasio Chimkowe.

In the realm of boxing, Joel Williamson is set to be the final Guyanese boxer to step into the ring at the Pan Games, aiming to secure a spot in the quarter-finals alongside Keevin Allicock.

However, Williamson faces a challenging test as he squares off against the Dominican Republic’s Miguel De La Cruz in the Men’s 89kg bout at the Centro de Entrenamiento Olímpico.

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Chile, Guyanese, Pan Am Games, Rawle Toney, Santiago

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