PRIYANKA KHELLAWAN tested one of the favourites in her battle for a quarter-final place in the Caribbean Table Tennis Championship Wednesday night in Guyana.
Four Trinidad and Tobago players reached the round of 16, but none of them were able to advance to the last eight.
Khellawan, a former two-time Caribbean Under-13 champion, actually led eventual silver-medallist Shary Munoz by two games to one before eventually falling 9-11, 11-3, 12-14, 11-6, 11-4, 11-2 to the player from Dominican Republic
None of the 17-year-old’s three compatriots were able to win a game.
The 14-year-old Chloe Fraser, who has been training in France for the last nine months, went down 11-7, 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 against Cuban Carrazana Fonseca.
In the men’s draw, United States-based teenager Derron Douglas was beaten 11-6, 13-11, 11-9, 11-9 by Puerto Rican Oscar Birriel.
And former two-time Caribbean Under-18 champ and current national champ Aaron Wilson was whipped with surprising ease 11-6, 11-4, 11-7, 11-8 by Barbadian Tyrese Knight.
The other members of the T&T team, Imani Edwards and former national champ Yuvraaj Dookram, failed to qualify for the main draw.
The team events began yesterday and will continue over the next two days to bring down the curtain on the tournament.
There are just two round-robin groups in the women’s competition. The T&T squad will be hard-pressed to finish in the top two and reach the semi-finals as Cuba and the Dominican Republic are the other teams in Group B.
Puerto Rico, Guyana and Barbados are in the other group.
This country’s men are drawn with the Dominican Republic and St Lucia in Group C. Barbados, Haiti and Puerto Rico are in Group A, while Group B consists of Cuba, Guyana and Suriname.
The two top teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals.
