Midway through a Caribbean Badminton tournament, hosts Barbados, has something to smile about as their junior men’s doubles team of Kennie King and Dominick Scantlebury accounted for the U-19 gold.
The Bajan pair went through a gruelling encounter in the final Sunday evening to beat Trinidadians Leon Cassie and Vance Juteram 18-21, 21-11 and 21-8 in the 2019 CAREBACO (Caribbean Badminton Confederation) Junior International Badminton Tournament being played at the Wildey Gymnasium Garfield Sobers Sports Complex.
This Tournament, which runs to Aug. 29, has attracted 70 international athletes from the Czech Republic, Germany, Panama, USA, Canada, Italy, Luxembourg, Wales, Poland, Finland, Iceland, Slovakia, Suriname, Haiti, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Jamaica, England, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Mongolia.
Organisers point out that with the 2020 Olympics less than a year away, many of these badminton athletes will be using this year’s CAREBACO Tournament to their advantage as a way to obtain Olympic qualifying points.
The Barbados doubles gold medal was one of five up for grabs in the junior section.
Contests among the seniors began Monday.
Barbados’ Scantlebury had a good run in the junior section. In addition to the gold, he accounted for two silvers, losing in the men’s singles to Joseph Lu of Canada; and coming second again when he paired up with Sobers Robyn for the mixed doubles and lost to the Guyanese pair of Tyrese Jeffrey and Priyanna Ramdhani.
Guyanese Ramdhani is proving herself one to watch as in addition to the mixed doubles gold, she also held gold in the women’s singles, and paired with Trinidad’s Chequeda De Boulet to win the women’s doubles.
The Bajan top junior, Scantlebury, blamed his singles final loss to Canada’s Lu to a series of errors.
“It wasn’t my best display, but I came out and tried my best, and I hope that next year I grow stronger especially with the tournaments I have coming on this summer,” he said.
