Bronze in badminton at CAC, Sunshine Girls off to winning start
Published:Tuesday | July 4, 2023 | 1:34 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
TEAM Jamaica registered a 3-1 victory over hosts El Salvador at the ongoing Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games to lift the bronze medal in badminton action.
In men’s singles, Jamaica’s Zane Reid suffered a two-set defeat to Uriel Canjura losing 21-15, 21-11. However, in women’s singles Katherine Wynter got the Jamaica’s first victory following a commanding 21-8, 21-17 victory over Daniela Hernandez.
The pair of Samuel Ricketts and Zane Reid sent the Jamaica 2-1 up following a close 22-20, 21-19 victory over El Salvador’s duo of Manuel Mejia and Javier Alas. The bronze medal was secured when the mixed doubles pair Samuel Ricketts and Tahlia Richardson completed a 2-1 victory, 21-6, 13-21, 21-13 over Fatima Centeno and Javier Alas.
In netball, Jamaica’s campaign got off to a winning start following a wire-to-wire victory over Caribbean team Barbados. The young Sunshine Girls, who produced a dazzling display, registered a 62-34 victory on the back of solid shooting performance from Amanda Pickney who converted 94 per cent of her shots (16 from 17) and Simone Gordon who shot 87 per cent (27 from 31).
Jamaica, who are looking to create history by becoming the first champions of the netball competition at the CAC Games, will play their second fixture today at 3:30 Jamaica time against Cayman Islands.
Also registering a win was tennis ace Blaise Bicknell who booked his spot in the men’s singles semifinals. Bicknell earned the spot with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Costa Rica’s Rodrigo Crespo in his quarterfinal tie. After winning the first set 6-3, Bicknell was edged out 6-7 in the second set, setting up a cracking decider, which Bicknell eventually won 12-10.
2-1 defeat
In men’s doubles action, Jamaica’s pair of Bicknell and John Chin suffered a 2-1 defeat by Colombia’s duo of Alejandro Hoyos and Cristian Rodriguez at the quarterfinal stage. After losing 6-3 in the first set, the Jamaicans roared back to win the second set 6-3 but in the third and deciding set Bicknell and Chin lost 10-7.
Jamaica’s female footballers, who were seeking their first victory following a 5-2 defeat to El Salvador and 1-1 draw with Puerto Rico, suffered a humiliating 7-3 loss to Mexico which meant they exited the tournament at the group stage.
A double strike by Mexico’s Kiana Palacios in the 27th and 38th minutes and Sandra Mayor in the 71st and 90th minutes led the Mexican team to victory. They got their remaining goals from Greta Espinoza, Veronica Corral and Christina Burkenroad. Natoya Atkinson, Olufalasade Adamolekun and Mikayla Dayes were the scorers for the Reggae Girls.