Top T&T men’s beach volleyball pair, Daneil Williams and Fabien Whitfield advanced to the quarterfinals for the third straight tournament when round-robin pool play ended at the seventh and final leg of the 2015 NORCECA Continental Beach Volleyball Circuit at Courland Heritage Park, Turtle Beach, Tobago, yesterday.
Playing in a five-team Pool C series, the Toco-born pair of Williams and Whitfield, winners of bronze medals in the fifth and sixth legs in Florida, USA and St Lucia respectively, swept aside St Lucians Agustin Faulkner and Joseph Clercent 21-11, 21-12 and then Costa Ricans Richard Smith and Alexander Villegas) 21-12, 21-15 in a winner-take-all contest to end with a 3-1 record behind Canada-B’s Grant O’Gorman and Sam Pedlow (4-0).
On Friday, the T&T Williams and Whitfield started with a win over Mexico-B’s Juan Revuelta and Ricardo Galindo, 21-13, 25-23, but then came up short, 18-21, 19-21 to O’Gorman and Pedlow. In Pool D, T&T-B duo and also Toco-bred, Simon Blake and Colin Bernard had a 1-3 record after winning one of two matches yesterday 21-18, 21-17 over Jamaicans Mark Lewis and Patrico Grant.
But with a chance for a 2-2 record, the T&T men suffered a narrow 18-21, 20-22 loss to Guatemalans Moises Reyes and Erick Garrido.
On Friday, Blake and Bernard were beaten by two-time winners of the tour this season, Cuba-A’s Nivaldo Diaz and Sergio Gonzalez, 11-21, 15-21, and then went under to Arubans Gino Hodge and Fransua Angela as well, 18-21, 17-21. The Tobago duo of Kristen Trim and Kevin James (T&T-C) had a tough campaign as they ended 0-4 in Pool B round-robin play.
This after losing to Mexico-A pair and reigning Pan American Games champions Lombardo Ontiveros and Juan Virgen 6-21, 5-21; last year’s winners Canada-A’s Chaim Schalk and Ben Saxton 12-21, 6-21; USA-B’s Phil Dalhausser and Nichola Lucena) 9-21, 3-21 and Barbadians, Elwyn Oxley and Hugh Sealey, 5-21, 6-21.
A new champion will be crowned today after defending champion, Schalk and Baxton could only finish third in the pool with a 2-2 record behind Virgen and Ontiveros (4-0), and pre-tournament favourite’s Dalhausser, a gold medal winner at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and 2010 World Champion with his partner Lucena.
Last night in the quarterfinals, Williams and Whitfield faced Cuba-B’s Karell Pina and Daisel Quesada, winners on the tour this season while USA-A (Jacob Gibb/Casey Patterson met Mexico’s Ontiveros and Virgen; Dalhausser and Lucena battled Cuba-A’s Diaz and Gonzalez while bt Canada-B’s O’Gorman and Pedlow clashed with Guatemalans Moises Reyes and Erick Garrido.
Glasgow, Joseph miss out on Tobago quarters
The T&T women’s pair of La Teisha “Chucky” Joseph and Apphia Glasgow missed out on claiming a second quarterfinal appearance after losing to Costa Ricans Yuliana Gonzalez and Eugenia Ram’rez in their final Pool C round-robin match.
Playing under blistering sunshine, both Joseph and Glasgow and the Costa Ricans entered the match with 2-1 records and needing to win to secure the runner-up spot in the five-team pool behind unbeaten USA-B duo, Emily Day and Jennifer Kessy.
Backed by the home crowd, Glasgow and Joseph, who reached the quarterfinals of this year’s opening leg in Cayman Islands won a closely fought first set, 26-24, but the Central Americans then silenced the host by taking the next two sets, 21-12, 15-11 to grab second with a 3-1 record while T&T ended third with a 2-2 mark, with the USA winners with a 4-0 record.
It was the second loss for Glasgow and Joseph in the morning session after a 4-21, 9-21 beating from Day and Kessy. On Friday when the 20-team tournament served off, Joseph and Galsgow overcame Cayman Islands’ Jessica Wolfenden and Stefania Gandolfi 21-18, 21-15 and followed up by beating US Virgin Islands’ Mannika Charles and Amber Bennett 21-15, 21-9.
T&T’s other women’s pair, Ayanna Dyette and Malika Davidson were fourth in Pool A with a 1-3 record and also failed to reach the main draw quarterfinals.
On Friday, Dyette and Davidson were beaten in their curtain raiser, 9-21, 12-21 by USA-A’s Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Sweat, but recovered to defeat Hondurans Gina Flores and Martha Euceda, 21-14, 21-13, only to lose their final match of the day to Cuba-B’s Yanileydis Sanchez and Lidianny Echevarria, 13-21, 21-17, 12-15.
Yesterday, the T&T women fell to El Salvadoreans Kathia Vasquez and Maria Fernanda Vargas 14-21, 9-21. Last night, Glasgow and Joseph were carded to face Jamaicans Jamaica Danielle Perry and Kai Wright for 11th spot while Dyette and Davidson came up against Cayman Islands’ Wolfenden and Gandolfi for 13th.
In the quarterfinals, USA-B (Jennifer Kessy/Emily Day) faced defending champions, Canada-B (Melissa Humana-Paredes/Taylor Pishcke); USA-A (Lauren Fendrick/Brooke Sweat) battled Costa Rica (Yuliana González/Eugenia Ramírez); Cuba-A (Lianma Flores/Leila Martínez), last year’s runner-up came up against Mexico-B (Claudia Ríos/Gloria Santoyo), and Cuba-B (Yanileydis Sanchez/Lidianny Echevarría) tackled Canada-A (Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas).