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In the Boys U-15 Team competition at the 2023 ITTF Pan American Youth Championships (U15 & U19), Charleston, West Virginia, Trinidad & Tobago failed to move past the group stage despite spirited performances by the contingent.
T&T U15 & U19 Squad: Coach Aleena Edwards, Malik Gopaul, Josiah Joseph, Jonathan Cottoy, Samuel Humphreys, Imani Edwards-Taylor, and Jordan Thong.
Placed in group 2, T&T’s U15 boys team lost their group matches to eventual champions Brazil & then Argentina, respectively. The team, comprising Malik Gopaul, Josiah Joseph, and Jonathan Cottoy, was defeated by Brazil 3-0. Malik Gopaul went under to Lucas Romanski (7:11; 6:11; 6:11) in the opening match, Josiah Joseph lost to Koji Davi Fujii (6:11; 6:11; 8:11), and Vitor Iwamoto closed things off for the Brazilians with a victory over Jonathan Cottoy (6:11; 6:11; 8:11).
In the other group 2 faceoff, T&T battled against Argentina. The game was considerably closer than the 3-0 score indicated, but Argentina emerged victorious in the vital stages. Malik Gopaul, once again, was up first for T&T and raced to a 2:0 lead which he fought valiantly to protect but unfortunately succumbed to Asmu Agustin (11:9; 11:8; 7:11; 7:11; 6:11). Josiah Joseph tried to keep T&T’s hopes alive but ultimately losing 3-1 to argentine Franco Varela (4:11; 11:9; 3:11; 5:11) and Matias Vivas brought the match to a close with 3-0 victory over Jonathan Cottoy (4:11; 8:11; 8:11).
With their unfortunate exit from the team event, the contingent set their sights on the singles and doubles events. In the girl’s U15 singles, T&T’s lone representative Jordan Thong fought tooth and nail but failed to qualify as she lost in straight sets to Ecuador’s Nohelia Ortiz, Puerto Rico’s Kailyn Rosado Cruz, and USA’s Amber Liu, respectively.
Revenge was sweet for Malik Gopaul as he clawed his way back from 2-1 down to overcome Argentine Asmu Agustin (5:11; 12:10; 5:11; 11:7; 11:6), who had beaten him in a close encounter previously in the team event. In the second group match, he defeated Honduran Rowan Ramirez in straight sets (1:11; 4:11; 5:11) to top the group and advance to the round of 32.
Other Results
U15 Boys Singles – Group stage – Josiah Joseph vs. Ian Morales (5:11; 5:11; 5:11) & Josiah Joseph vs Matthew Ho (12:14; 2:11; 11:8; 12:10; 6:11)
U15 Boys Singles – Group stage – Jonathan Cottoy vs. Gabriel Chavez (8:11; 7:11; 7:11), Jonathan Cottoy vs Antonio Perez (8:11; 4:11; 8:11) & Jonathan Cottoy vs. Stanley Hsu (6:11; 4:11; 1:11)
U15 Mixed Doubles – Malik Gopaul & Jordan Thong lost in the Rnd of 16 to Yishiuan Lin & Stanley Hsu (0:11; 4:11; 7:11)
U15 Boys Doubles – Malik Gopaul & Josiah Joseph lost in the Rnd of 16 to Lucas Romanski & Koji Davi Fujii (4:11; 6:11; 4:11)
U19 Boys Singles – Group stage – Samuel Humphreys vs. Simeon Martin (3:11; 2:11; 4:11) & Samuel Humphreys vs Leonardo Perez (6:11; 3:11; 3:11)
U19 Girls Singles – Group stage – Imani Edwards-Taylor vs. Kristal Melendez (3:11; 8:11; 7:11) & Imani Edwards-Taylor vs Daniela Linares (5:11; 6:11; 11:3; 10:12)
U19 Boys Doubles – Samuel Humphreys & Jonathan Cottoy lost in the Rnd of 32 to Simeon Martin & Laurent Jutras (8:11; 3:11; 5:11)
U19 Girls Doubles – Imani Edwards-Taylor & Jordan Thong lost in the Rnd of 32 to Emily Tan & Tiffany Ke (9:11; 5:11; 3:11)
U19 Mixed Doubles – Imani Edwards-Taylor & Samuel Humphreys lost in the Rnd of 32 to Nicholas Callaba & Alma Marcial (4:11; 5:11; 4:11)
