It is not the ending they had envisaged but Barbados’ Senior Women’s Doubles team at the Caribbean Badminton Confederation International Tournament were anyhow delighted with the gold medal earned through a walkover — especially when it is the island’s only final win in the category.
The Bajan team of Tamisha Williams and Monyata Riveira, who days earlier beat teams from Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, had dutifully geared up for the women’s doubles final at the Caribbean Badminton Confederation (CAREBACO) Saturday evening at the Wildey Gymnasium, Garfield Sobers Sports Complex, Barbados, only to learn that one of their Czech Republic opponents of Tereza Švábíková and Katerina Tomalova had to urgently fly back home owing to a family emergency and could not take the court.
The resulting walkover victory gave Barbados its only seniors gold medal to add to the lone one that the juniors won a week earlier.
Barbados’ Junior Men’s Doubles team of Kennie King and Dominick Scantlebury had accounted for the U-19 gold.
This Tournament, which ended Sunday, had 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.
According to organisers, with the 2020 Olympics games less than a year away many of these badminton athletes will be using this year’s CAREBACO Tournament to their advantage to obtain Olympic qualifying points.
