Both Barbados women’s teams played unbeaten to join Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago’s men’s and women’s sides in winners’ row, on the opening day of the Caribbean Zonal phase of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball qualifiers here last Friday.
Playing at Saith Park, the pair of Anthazia Mason and Sharon Bovell, along with Anicia Wood and Shari Matthews, won both their encounters to give Barbados a great start to the tournament, a qualifier for the London 2012 Olympics.
Mason and Bovell beat the Surinamese duo of Pamela Gilds and Xaviera Willems-berg 21-18, 21-16 to open their account, before returning to whip Cheryl Brunings and Kim Karsters also of Suriname, 21-12, 21-19.
Wood and Matthews, meanwhile, kept up Barbados’ winning trend when they disposed of Brunings and Karsters 21-10, 21-15 and then shot down Gilds and Willemsberg 21-15, 21-13.
Their men’s teams had mixed fortunes, however. Caribbean star Elwyn Oxley and Winston Gittens beat The Bahamas’ Renaldo Knowles and Muller Petit 23-21, 21-19 but lost their second game to Princtanique Wilson and Byron Ferguson of The Bahamas, 21-17, 21-19.
Hugh Sealy and Jamal Nedd then beat Wilson and Ferguson 21-17, 21-19 before Omar Sealy and Negus Talma handed Knowles and Petit their second straight loss with a 21-11, 21-18 defeat.
Impressive results
Jamaica were also impressive, with positive results on both sides of the draw. In men’s action, Wayne Scott and Andre McLean dismissed the US Virgin Islands’ (USVI) Gustavo Cintron and Marc Lomeli 21-9, 21-12 before Dellon Brown and Namarie Gordon claimed easy points against the defaulting Cullen Diehl and Austin Pippen of the USVI.
The women had similar success, with Shanique Green and Cherie Thompson hammering Laval Sands and Tia Wilson of the Bahamas 21-19, 21-16, while Nardrake Hutchinson and Tshai Williams handed Sands and Wilson their second loss, 21-17, 21-10.
Hosts T&T also started well, as the men’s teams of Daneil Williams and Fabien Whitfield, and Christian Francois and Kevin Rivers registered victories against Surinamese opposition.
Elki Phillip and Pauline Woodroffe, along with Kelly-Anne Billingy/Ayanna Dyette, ensured there were no hiccups in the women’s section with wins over the USVI. (JA Gleaner)
