Bajans definitely rule the tables.
Barbados are the world champions in dominoes once more, after winning the crown for a record tenth time, and also completing a three-peat at the Sea Rock Dome, Maxwell Road yesterday.
With waves from the Atlantic Ocean slapping against the sea-rocks, the Bajans, buoyed on by raucous home support, dug deep to capture the title at the 16th World Council Federation of Dominoes championships, while leaving contenders Antigua and Barbuda in the second spot for the fourth time in succession.
Previously Barbados won the crown in St Lucia in 2010 and in Orlando in 2012.
Barbados ended with 23 points, Antigua and Barbuda 18, Guyana four, Anguilla three and the United States finished in the cellar without a point. The Bajans captured the Team Four-Hand, the Mixed Pairs and the Male and Female Pairs, en route to the title.
Runner-ups Antigua & Barbuda, who are vying to host the 2016 championship, challenged Barbados throughout, while leading at times during the week of action. They won the Female Team Three-Hand, and the King and Queen titles, while Guyana took the male Three-Hand crown.
Although Barbados cemented their title in the final contest, the team Four-Hand, the template was established by the brilliance from the mixed as well as the male and female pairs. Shurland Bovell and Adrian Hinds showed that their male pairs win in Orlando was no fluke by repeating yesterday.
Suzette Hinds and Sherryanne Dawson took the female pairs to add to the mixed title, which Hamilton Durant and Charmaine Carter had snatched early yesterday morning.
Manager of the team, Major Vernon Gittens, while lamenting the fact that teams like St Lucia and Dominica did not participate in this year’s tourney, had nothing but praise for his team.
“We in Barbados take dominoes very serious and although the other countries play and compete with a high degree of seriousness, we take it to another level.
“While we regret that St Lucia and Dominica did not take part to make the competition even higher than it was, I am confident that Barbados would have still won. At times we trailed Antigua and Barbuda who are definitely improving every year. But, with good competitors in every category of the competition, Barbados had the edge to take the title,” said Major Gittens.
Team captain Dennis Nowell was also happy with the performance of his team and with the capture of the crown at home.
“This is a tremendous feeling. We are really, really, really happy with the way how things turned out. Things were tight at times but we were always confident that we would have pulled it off in the end.”
Major Gittens indicated that the success of the Barbados team over the years had helped to remove the stigma that dominoes was a game played only in rum shops.
“Playing in a setting like this and winning our tenth world title will certainly help us in the drive to get players from all levels of society as well as to get more youth involved.
“Our schools’ programmes have been helping to provide younger players for our sport and this year we saw not only the experienced players leading Barbados to another title, but the overall play from the newcomers augurs well for the future of dominoes,” he said.
