Franklin, Lowe earn silver in mixed doubles

The Guyana male and female table tennis teams following their silver medals performances Monday night. At right is GTTA vice president Gary Pratt. Missing is U21 female player Priscilla Greaves.
The Guyana male and female table tennis teams following their silver medals performances Monday night. At right is GTTA vice president Gary Pratt. Missing is U21 female player Priscilla Greaves.

Experienced duo Christopher Franklin and Trenace Lowe, continued Guyana’s spirited showing in the 60th Caribbean Table Tennis Federation (CTTF) Senior Championships by securing another silver medal for the nation last evening in Jamaica. 

According to reports, the duo defeated the number one seeded pair in the semi-finals but came up short once again in another final to finish second.

Meanwhile, the women’s doubles pair copped bronze in the women’s doubles category after they lost to the Dominican Republic in the semi-finals. 

On Monday Guyana’s female and male table tennis contingent placed second in the team events after suffering finals defeat against powerhouse Dominican Republic in both divisions. The females lost their encounter 0-3 with Chelsea Edghill failing to find a way past Yasiris Ortiz in a match she lost 4-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-13.  

The experienced Trenace Lowe went down to Eva Brito 1-3 after beginning the match with an opening set 11-8 win. She eventually lost 5-11, 4-11, 5-11 in the following three sets. Natalie Cummings, however, took Emerly Castro to five sets before losing 2-3. 

Cummings, like Lowe, won the first set 11-6 but dropped the second 6-11. She bounced back nicely in the third and won it 11-8 before losing the next two sets and the match 6-11, 8-11.

The males also went down to the Dominican Republic in their final, 1-3. Team leader Franklin who was first on the table, went down against Emil Santos 11-4, 11-7, 11-2.  His training partner and club mate Shemar Britton, on the other hand, who is keen to collect his first singles medal at this year’s tournament, boosted his confidence with a 3-2 win over the reigning Caribbean men’s singles champion Samuel Galvez.

Galvez won the first set 11-6 while Britton struck back in second to take it 11-7 before surrendering the third 9-11. The 20-year-old nonetheless, held his nerve to take the final two sets 12-10, 11-5 to hand Guyana a consolation win. 

 Meanwhile, Joel Alleyne lost to Isaac Villa 6-11, 5-11, 4-11 and Britton in the final match, went down to Santos 6-11, 8-11, 8-11. In the semi-finals the females blanked Trinidad and Tobago 3- 0 while the males came back from a 0-2 deficit to upstage Barbados 3-2 to book their place in the final.