JTTA
Jamaica’s Malone Bird made it all the way to the round of 16 in the Boys U-11 Singles category at the Pan American U-11 and U-13 Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic last week.
Bird, after getting through the preliminary group phase, made it through to the round of 16 thanks to a straight-sets win over Puerto Rico’s Caleb Portalatino (11-6, 11-6, 11-9).
His tournament than came to an end after suffering a straight-sets loss (11-6, 11-5, 11-6) at the hands of Brazil’s Joao Ribeiro who went on to lose in the quarterfinals.
The whole thing was won by the USA’s Chirag Pradhan who defeated his countryman Jacob Kordus by three sets to two.
Jamaica also failed to advance from the first round of the U-11 Boys’ doubles as Malone and Shacoil Bird lost in straight-sets to Argentina 11-7, 11-6, 13-11.
President of the Jamaica Table Tennis Association, Ingrid Graham, expressed joy at the performance of the brothers at the tournament.
“Win or lose, they are young and this is priceless exposure for the future. Very close matches and they are right there,” she said.
She also expressed gratitude to a number of sponsors that made it possible for the boys to represent the country in the Dominican Republic.
“We would like to express thanks to the SDF, JOA, OSIL, Sterling Travel, Friends of Table Tennis, Growth Sport and Western Sports for their support to make this possible for these young men to attend these games,” she said.
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Watson, Whyte take singles titles at JTTA National Table Tennis Championships
Kane Watson and Keeara Whyte emerged as the respective Men’s and Women’s open singles champions at the 2024 Jamaica Table Tennis Association (JTTA) National Senior and Junior Championships held from September 6-8 at the National Indoor Sports Center in Kingston.
Watson returned from retirement to claim his sixth national title by a score of 4-3 in a seven-game thriller over 2023 champion Mark Phillips.
Watson won the first three sets 11-7, 11-3 and 11-8 before Phillips rallied to win the next three sets 11-6, 11-5 and 11-9, setting up a decisive seventh set.
It was a close contest throughout but Watson held his nerve to emerge victorious by a score of 11 points to nine.
In the women’s singles final, Keara Whyte got the better of defending champion Tsenaye Lewis in a 4-0 straight-sets win.
Whyte won the first set comfortable 11-4 before two hard fought sets (11-9, 11-9) in the second and third.
The fourth set proved to be the most competitive with Lewis fighting to prolong proceedings but Whyte eventually prevailed 12-10 to secure the title.
Watson and singles semi-finalist Paulton Madden combined to win the men’s doubles title while sisters Tsenaye and Gianna Lewis took the women’s double crown.
As far as the juniors are concerned, the following were the respective age-group winners: Kaylor Dyer (U-9 and U-11 Girls), Shacoil Bird (U-9 Boys), Malone Bird (U-11 Boys), Kira Scott (U-13 and U-15 Girls), Ajani Spencer (U-13 Boys), Gmarco Smith (U-15 Boys), Keeara Whyte (U-19 Girls), Azizi Johnson (U-19 Boys).
Andrea Wadsworth and Phillip Drummond won the women’s and men’s Over-40 singles titles.
Kingston took the title as the top women’s parish team while St. Andrew took the men’s crown.
JTTA National Senior and Junior Table Tennis Championships set for September 6-8
From September 6 to September 8, Jamaica’s top table tennis players will descend upon the National Indoor Sports Center in Kingston for the 2024 Jamaica Table Tennis Association (JTTA) National Senior and Junior Table Tennis Championships.
In what promises to be an unforgettable weekend of table tennis excitement, players will be competing in categories ranging from Under-9 Girls and Boys all the way up to the Men’s and Women’s Open categories.
“This will be the largest participation in over 20 years,” according to JTTA President Ingrid Graham.
She also noted that this will be the largest number of participants ever in both the Men’s Open and Under-19 sections.
These championships will also see Jamaican citizens overseas coming to the island to compete for the top spot in their respective categories.
“We have over 10 Jamaican citizens living in London, Canada and the USA coming over to participate,” Graham said.
Sponsors for the championships include OSIL, Western Sports, Graham International Consulting, SDF, JOA, Insport, Virginia Deer, Mother’s, Altamont Court Hotel, Auto Channel, Jamaica Post and GEWO Jamaica.
Doors open at 9:00 am Jamaica Time each day.
Malone Bird through to second stage of Boys’ U-11 Singles at Pan American U-11 and U-13 Championships
Jamaica’s Malone Bird successfully made it through to the second stage of the Boys’ U11 Singles competition at the Pan American Under 11 and Under 13 Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Wednesday.
Bird made it through the group phase after securing one win and one loss in his two matches on Wednesday.
After suffering a straight-set loss at the hands of Canada’s Daniel Liang (11-4, 11-9, 11-7) in his first game, he rebounded with a four-set win over Guatemala’s Omar Ixcaragua.
Bird won the first two sets 11-7 and 11-8 before Ixcaragua tried to mount a comeback with an 11-4 third set victory before the Jamaican shut the door with an 11-6 win in the fourth set.
Unfortunately, the second half of the Bird brothers, Shacoil, didn’t have the same success and failed to advance to the next phase after suffering a pair of straight set losses to Brazil’s Joao Ribeiro (11-7, 11-3, 11-7) and Ecuador’s Juan Gonzalez (11-9, 11-6, 11-1).
The draw for the second phase of the singles will be held on Friday. The Bird brothers will also take on Argentina in doubles on Friday.
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