Foster nabs three golds at Carib TT champs

Keisha Hill, Staff Reporter

Fifteen-year-old national table tennis champion, Yvonne Foster, copped three gold medals at the recently concluded Caribbean Junior Championships held in Guyana from April 11-14 to secure Jamaica's qualification to the International Table Tennis Federation World Global Junior Tour to be staged in New Zealand later this year.

Foster led the team to gold in the Under-15 girls doubles event, teaming with Tracy-Ann Dattadeen to cop the coveted title. Foster also took home the Under-18 and Under-15 singles titles. She also won bronze in Under-15 mixed doubles alongside Jermaine James.

Twelve of the islands top junior table tennis players made the prolific journey that was contested in the Under-15 and Under-18 categories. Michael Cai (Wolmer's Boys) captained the boys teams and teammates Don-Walker Petinaud (Calabar), Simon Tomlinson (Ardenne) and Shane Frost participated in the under-18 category. Jermaine James (Kingston College), Glen-Ross McDonald (Kingston College) and Jaime Allen (Manchester High) represented Jamaica in the Under-15 category.

Female captain

Foster (Meadowbrook High) captained the girls delegation that included Andrene Hart (Edith Dalton James) and Dattadeen (St. Mary High), who also competed in the under-18 category. Petrina Bogle (Gaynstead) and Kristen McKenzie (Campion) served off in the Under-15 event.

The three Jamaican teams qualified for the World Junior Championships by virtue of placing third for bronze medals.

Jamaica also secured other medals in the individual events, with Petinaud receiving the only silver medal for reaching the final of the boys Under-18 singles.

Bronze collection

Petinaud and Tomlinson and Frost and Cai earned bronze medals in the Under-18 doubles.

Dattadeen and Frost won bronze in the Under-18 mixed doubles, and James and McDonald earned bronze in the Under-15 boys' doubles.

The contingent returned to the island yesterday with manager/ coach Robert Hyatt, coach Rohan Schloss and chaperone Morine Dawson, who also served as an umpire during the championships. Matthew Dawson also travelled as an umpire.