T&T medal tally at CAC now eight
The Trinidad and Tobago men’s hockey team took silver when Cuba defeated them 5-1 yesterday in the final at the High Performance Center in Veracruz, Mexico. T&T’s total medal tally after ten days of the two-week competition is now eight-- one gold, one silver and six bronze. Cuba’s Yoandy Blanco scored a quickfire double in the 28th minute and a third in the 62nd minute to rattle the T&T squad, coached by former national player Rafael Govia.
And when Cuba’s Adrian Molina slotted home six minutes after the resumption and Yiel Veitia added his personal touch in the 63rd, it was virtually a hill too steep to climb for the local stickmen led by captain Darren Cowie. T&T’s Mickell Pierre scored a consolation goal in the 67th minute to salvage some pride for this country. The Cuban men followed the example of their women’s team who also claimed gold on the previous day in the women’s final against Dominican Republic. There were to be no more medals on the day for T&T. In athletics, local sprinter Emmanuel Callender failed to advance to the finals when he finished fourth in heat two of three semi-final events. Bahamas’ Adrian Griffith won that semi-final in 10.41 seconds, with Barbados’ Levi Cadogan tied for second with Colombia’s Diego Palomeque (10.45), followed closely by Callender in 10.46.
Callender was not one of the fastest losers. Dominican Republic’s Yancarlos Martinez sped to 10.35 seconds to take the first semi-final heat while Honduras’ Cruz Palacios won the third ‘semi’ in 10.26.
In water polo action, the T&T men are having a tough time in Mexico as they suffered their third straight defeat yesterday, at the Ley de Reforma Aquatic Center.
After going down 16-9 and 16-4 to Puerto Rico and Cuba respectively on the two previous nights, the local water polo squad were trumped by Venezuela 11-5, yesterday. Matthew George scored a hattrick while captain John Littlepage and Christopher Forte notched one goal a piece.
In squash, T&T went down 2-0 to Caribbean rivals Jamaica in the men’s doubles competition at the round of 16 stage. In boxing, T&T’s Anthony Joseph was defeated 3-0 by Mexico’s Sergio Chirino in their quarterfinal featherweight bout.
His teammates Seanasi Charles and Pan Am bronze medallist Michael Alexander were scheduled to fight Puerto Rico’s Danielito Zorilla and Nicaragua’s José Mejias respectively in their quarterfinal bouts in the light welterweight and lightweight after press time.