Bajans grab six tennis medals

THE Barbados table tennis team returned from Puerto Rico recently having earned six medals at the Caribbean Table Tennis Championships that ended in San German, last weekend.The men’s and women’s teams both won bronze while there were also bronze medals in the men’s doubles (Mark Dowell and Abbie Clarke), mixed doubles (Clarke and Sherice Felix) and in the men’s singles (Andy Carrington).  The most outstanding result for Barbados came in the women’s doubles in which Ann Reid and Sabrina Worrell captured a silver medal.Despite some challenges, team captain Trevor Farley believes it was a successful tournament for Barbados.Farley was pleased with the camaraderie displayed by the players, but found some of the physical conditions different to what he expected.“The facility was different in that there was air-conditioning and it took a while to get accustomed to it,” Farley told NATIONSPORT on his return from the games.Speed cutFarley said that the AC affected the speed and movement of the ball and this proved to be a challenge since the Bajan players were not accustomed to playing in such conditions at home.“We are more accustomed to playing with a higher body temperature,” he said.“Personally it caused me some discomfort such as headaches. We requested the temperature be adjusted and I believe they accommodated us. It was just a matter of adapting to the situation.”Farley said that the good thing about the experience was that the Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC) would be played at the same venue next week so the experience at the Caribbean championships was good preparation.“Maybe in the future we may need to arrive at the games earlier so as to acclimatise,” he said.The former Caribbean champion admitted that Barbados could have done better at the championships especially in the absence of teams like Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, but there were circumstances apart from the physical conditions that proved challenging.