Weightlifters disappoint
- boxers, table tennis player begin quest tomorrow
By Michael DaSilva
Stabroek News
November 29, 2002
Chef-de-Mission of the Guyana team to the 19th Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador (CAC) Garfield Wiltshire, is disappointed with the performance of the weightlifters but is optimistic that the other team members (barring the karatekas) will do Guyana proud.
Speaking to Stabroek Sport via telephone from the Games village yesterday, Wiltshire, a former Southern Caribbean men?s squash champion, opined that the weightlifters - Julian McWatt, William Langford and Shondell King - did not perform as well as they had performed at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, earlier this year.
PERFORMED BELOW STANDARD
?I definitely think they performed below the standard they performed at, at the Commonwealth Games,? Wiltshire said.
He added: ?Shondell (King) and (William) Langford to my mind even performed below the standard they performed at, at the national championships back home.?
The weightlifters, along with the two-man karate team, are expected to leave for Guyana today.
The karatekas - David Harvey and Marvin Singh - also failed to secure a medal.
They both failed to get past their respective first round encounters.
To date, Nicolette Fernandes and Jillian Griffith-Lilico have landed medals for Guyana. Fernandes secured a bronze medal in the women?s individual squash tournament and, together with Griffith-Lilico, landed bronze in the women?s doubles. They lost their semi-final fixture by a 0-2 margin to the tough Mexican pair of Samantha Teran and Diana Huerta yesterday.
According to Wiltshire, Maxim Weithers and Luke Fraser won their men?s doubles quarter-final match against the Jamaican pair of S. Smith and E. Burrowes by 15/11 and 15/6 margins and are down to play El Salvador?s Diestro Samper and Santiago Montoya in a semi-final fixture today.
BOXERS BEGIN QUEST
Asked about Fraser?s somewhat poor performance in the men?s individual competition, Wiltshire explained that Fraser only arrived in El Salvador one day before going into competition since he had work commitments. ?So he was not acclimatised as yet, and unfortunately, he ran into Mexico?s number two seed and lost his first round match,? Wiltshire stated.
?But he has settled in and much is expected of him in the rest of the tournament. But even if he did reach (El Salvador) earlier, it would have still been a tough match.?
According to Wiltshire, Teran, who defeated Fernandes in the women?s individual semi-final, is rated six in the world.
Wiltshire said Fernandes and Fraser have a fair chance in the mixed doubles competition which gets underway tomorrow.
?They drew a bye into the semi-final round,? he said.
Winning today?s match would assure them of at least a silver medal.
?When Luke (Fraser) teamed up with Max (Weithers), they won easily, so they should do well to get into the final,? Wiltshire offered.
Wiltshire said the technical meeting for the boxing aspect of the games was held yesterday and Guyana?s two man team should be in action tomorrow. He also said the lone local table tennis player, Godfrey Munroe, will begin his quest for a medal tomorrow when the men?s individual category gets underway.
Wiltshire said the squash players still have lots more competition, since there is the team championships, in addition to the mixed doubles.
