The Gold Coast hasn’t proven lucrative so far.
Team Barbados really went down under yesterday after suffering a rough start to the 21st Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
None of the squad’s squash players advanced to the medal rounds of singles play, while triathletes Jason Wilson and Matthew Wright both placed outside of the top 20.
Competing in a sprint triathlon, Wilson finished five minutes behind eventual gold medal winner Henri Schoeman of South Africa to place 23rd in a time of 58 minutes and 14 seconds. Wright came in 32 seconds later to end up in 25th overall.
Squash players Shawn Simpson, Meagan Best and Amanda Haywood then all bowed out in the round of 32 in their respective singles draws.
Straight games
Haywood defeated Caroline Laing 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 5-11, 11-7 in the previous round only to lose 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 to Laura Massaro five hours later. Reigning two-time Caribbean women’s and US Open junior queen Best also lost in straight games (11-5, 11-1, 11-8) to Alison Waters of England. Simpson took a game off of Guyanese Sunil Seth before ultimately falling 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4 in 27 minutes.
Barbados didn’t fare any better on the tables, as the men’s table tennis side dropped their Group 3 fixture 0-3 to Singapore.
Tyrese Knight lost 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 to Shao Feng Ethan before Mark Dowell fell 11-1, 11-8, 11-9 to Xue Jie Pang.Dowell then paired with Kristian Doughty to lose the doubles to Pang and Feng 11-2, 11-3, 11-4.
Best, Simpson and Haywood are slated to return to the floor today for the consolation singles rounds, while the men’s table tennis team face Mauritius in their second Group 3 match.
Olympian Alex Sobers will swim in the third heat of the men’s 200 metres freestyle before Barbados face the top-ranked Australians in a Pool A netball encounter. (JM)