‘Golden girls’ Lowe, John keep Golden Arrowhead fluttering proudly

The Golden Arrowhead fluttered proudly in Pune, India yesterday as the first day of competition of the third Junior Commonwealth Games got underway.

According to Chef-de-Mission of the Guyana team Dr. Karen Pilgrim yesterday was a day of “mixed fortunes.”

“Day One was one of mixed fortunes for Team Guyana, but, mostly good,” Dr. Pilgrim told Stabroek Sport.

She reported that in table tennis golden girls Michelle John and Trenace Lowe, the Caribbean junior ‘girls champion’ and runner-up   played unbeaten in the singles competition while Nigel Bryan lost one game and won one.

Guyana’s Stefan Gouveia adding Guyana seawater to the urn. (photo courtesy of Dr. Karen Pilgrim)

In boxing, Guyana’s  Herlando Allicock  won his light flyweight contest against Denis Andre of Mauritius while Akeem Alexander was unfortunate to be injured in the third round of his bout against Shantosh Virothu of India which forced the referee to stop the contest.

But the day belonged to John and Lowe. Seeded seventh and eighth respectively the two played unbeaten to win two matches each in the group play-offs to advance to the next round.
John won her opening encounter against Shyreen Bokelta Pensulo 11-3, 11-4, 11-7 and came back to defeat Priscilla Zodwa Maphanga of South Africa  11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5.
Her final match will be against Gaik Ping Gam to determine the group winner.
Lowe won her first game against  Jamaican Shaunda Chauntal Brash 11-8, 11-9, 11-2 and came back to defeat Emanuelle Lavoie of Canada  3-11, 13-11, 11-9,9-11,  11-1.

Nigel Bryan played against Ling Yang of Canada, losing 3-1, but redeemed himself in the afternoon by beating Kavir Gaymes Jr., of St. Vincent, 3-0

Dr. Karen Pilgrim

Meanwhile, Guyana’s Stefan Gouveia participated in the opening ceremony which showcased the rich cultural heritage of India.

The games was declared open by Her Excellency, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, President of India while  Suresh Kalmadi, MP  and  Chairman of the  Commonwealth Youth Games Pune 2008 and Commonwealth Youth Games Delhi 2010 said how happy he was that for the first time all the 71 nations were participating in the games.

Dr. Pilgrim was impressed with the opening ceremony.

“The Opening Ceremony was fantastic. Hundreds of little children giving the 2008 performers at Beijing a run for their money.  Also reminiscent of Beijing were two aerial acrobats suspended from balloons.  Unfortunately it went much later than planned; we were all too tired to see it right to the end and the youngsters had to get their rest as some of them start competing today,” she said.