|
CHAGUANAS, Trinidad, May 10, 2015 – Trinidad & Tobago duo of
Daneil Williams and Fabien Whitfield won a “Golden Set” decider
against Jamaica top pair of veteran Mark Lewis and Ryck McKenzie
15-12 for a 2-1 victory and first place at the Caribbean Zonal
Beach Volleyball Tournament, a first-round competition of the
NORCECA Continental Cup on Sunday.
Williams and Whitfield (TTO-A) lived up to their pre-tournament
hype as the top pair when they swept aside a visibly injured
Donovan Richards and Christopher Walters 2-0 (21-10, 21-15) for
a 1-0 lead. But Lewis/Mc Kenzie (Jamaica-A) kept alive their
hopes of gold when they silenced Abraham Eccles and Tevin Joseph
(TTO-B), 21-15, 21-13 to level the tie at 1-1.
Once again, it was left up to Williams and Whitfield, regular
participants on the NORCECA Tour, to come up big for the host
and they did not disappoint, by earning a “Golden Set” victory.
“The Jamaicans are a very good team so we had to be on top our
game,” Whitfield said. “We had a great game to win all of our
points in complex one, which we did mostly and also we had a
very good defensive game”.
Despite the loss Lewis was quick to point out that Jamaica was
competing for the first time in the year and used the first
round of qualifiers to gauge where they are in terms of level
and play.
“We accomplished our goal of qualifying and getting to the final
was a plus, but in the end we came up against a very good
Trinidad and Tobago team,” Lewis said.
In the bronze medal contest, yet another match went to a “Golden
Set” decider with Curacao’s Derwin Colina and Norandy Bonafasia
battling past US Virgin Islands’ Bradley Reading-Connors and
Gustavo Cintron 16-14.
Colina and Jeandro Tokaay (Curacao-A) had the easiest of wins in
the tournament against Carlos Rosa Jr/Edward Peter Jr (ISV-B),
21-0, 21-0 after the latter defaulted due to a Peter Jr
suffering from dehydration. But Reading-Connors and Cintron
(ISV-A) made certain of a “Golden Set” by drawing level courtesy
a 21-18, 21-16 defeat of Curacao-B’s Bonafasia and Kyran Ersilia.
But in the decider, Curacao showed the better of nerves and
determination to take the medals.
In the “Golden Set” playoff for fifth spot, Barbadians Elwyn
Oxley and Daran Gill got the better of Suriname’s Roberto Joval
and Eurwin Daansi 15-12.
However, both Barbados and Suriname were already certain of
qualifying for the next stage of NORCECA qualification towards
the Olympics.
The top six CAZOVA teams now clash with the top six Eastern
Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) teams at a date to be
determined and from which teams will advance to a third round
against the top Central American nations.
Sunday results:
Semifinals:
Trinidad and Tobago 2, U.S. Virgin Islands 0
Daneil Williams/Fabien Whitfield TTO-A d Carlos Rosa Jr/Edward
Peter Jr ISV-B 2-0 (21-13, 21-8); Tevin Joseph/Abraham Eccles
TTO-B d Bradley Reading-Connors/Gustavo Cintron ISV-A 2-0
(21-16, 21-18)
Jamaica 2, Curacao 0
Donovan Richards/Christopher Walters JAM-B d Derwin Colina/Jeandro
Tokaay CUR-A 2-0 (21-12, 21-16); Mark Lewis/Ryck Mc Kenzie JAM-A
d Norandy Bonafasia/Kyran Ersilia CUR-B 2-0 (21-18, 21-15)
Fifth place:
GOLDEN SET: Elwyn Oxley/Daran Gill BAR d Roberto Joval/Eurwin
Daansi SUR (15-12)
Bronze:
Curacao 2, US Virgin Islands 1
Derwin Colina/Jeandro Tokaay CUR-A d Carlos Rosa Jr/Edward Peter
Jr ISV-B 2-0 (21-0, 21-0); Bradley Reading-Connors/Gustavo
Cintron ISV-A d Norandy Bonafasia/Kyran Ersilia CUR-B 2-0
(21-18, 21-16); GOLDEN SET: Derwin Colina/Norandy Bonafasia CUR
d Bradley Reading-Connors/Gustavo Cintron ISV (16-14)
Gold:
Trinidad & Tobago 2, Jamaica 1
Daneil Williams/Fabian Whitfield TTO-A d Donovan
Richards/Christopher Walters JAM-B 2-0 (21-10, 21-15); Mark
Lewis/Ryck Mc Kenzie JAM-A d Tevin Joseph/Abraham Eccles TTO-B
2-0 (21-15, 21-13); GOLDEN SET: Daneil Williams/Fabien Whitfield
TTO vs Mark Lewis/Ryck Mc Kenzie (15-12)
Final rankings:
1.Trinidad & Tobago; 2. Jamaica; 3.Curacao; 4.U.S. Virgin
Islands; 5. Barbados; 6. Suriname; 7. Guadeloupe; 8. Cayman
Islands; 9. Aruba; 10. Haiti; 11. Bahamas; 12. Bonaire; 13.
Martinique; 14. Turks & Caicos. |
