News Sports Badminton’s future Barbados Today28/08/20190257 views Kimmara Tull- Williams (left) of Barbados qualified for the Under-11 girls singles final when she defeated Arianna Mansook of Trinidad and Tobago. (Pictures by Morissa Lindsay). copy 2 Defending Under-15 Boys champion Harrison Griffith and Kimmara Tull- Williams in the Under-11 Girls Division were the only individual finalists for Barbados when the semifinals for the 2019 Carebaco Under-11 and Under-17 Championship were contested today at the Wildey Gymnasium. Nine-year-old Tull-Williams, a member of Shuttlers Badminton Club and the step-daughter of former Barbados number one Athelstone Forde won her Under-11 semifinal match 21-10, 19-21, 21-15 against Arianna Mansook of Trinidad and Tobago. Kimmara Tull- Williams (left) of Barbados qualified for the Under-11 girls singles final when she defeated Arianna Mansook of Trinidad and Tobago. (Pictures by Morissa Lindsay). The other Barbadian finalist is 14-year-old Griffith, the reigning Under-15 Carebaco champion, who is chasing his second consecutive title in that age group. Griffith battled humid conditions on court one inside the Gymnasium to come from a set down and win 10-21, 21-15 and 21-18 against Quinn Van De Leuven of Suriname. A member of the Pioneer Badminton Club, Griffith almost made it through to the Under-17 Boys doubles final when he teamed up with Zane Reid of Jamaica but lost 14-21, 21-18 and 21-18 to Donovan David and Zion St. Rose of Trinidad and Tobago in the semifinal. Defending Under-15 Boys singles champion Harrison Griffith of Barbados won easily against Quinn Van De Leuv of Suriname. In one of the most exciting matches on court today, Harrison and Reid won the opening set and put early pressure on David and St. Rose to respond. The Trinidadians were successful in tying the match 1-1 as they stretched and dived around the court to ensure the shuttlecock stayed alive while waiting for the opportune time to score. It was game on in the third and decisive set as Griffith and Reid took the attack to David and St. Rose who were just as equal to the task as they kept up well with the pace. The last scores were tied 18-18 and it was there that the Trinidadians took control and emerged triumphant with the assistance of a few failed returns from Griffith and Reid. Barbados will feature in four finals tomorrow with Tull-Williams and Griffith competing in the respective individual championship match. The Under-17 Girls doubles team of Aria Chandler and Fallon Miller are also into the final while the other Barbadian side is the Under-15 Girls pair of Eboni Atherley and Shania Forde, the daughter of Athelstone Forde. Chandler and Miller comfortably defeated Trinidad and Tobago Under-17 pair of Trishelle George and Zharia Hinds in straight sets 21-10 and 21-13 this afternoon. Meanwhile, Atherley and Forde easily won the Under-15 match-up 21-16, 21-14 against Miracle Abdillah of Suriname and Danyelle Barnes of Trinidad. Earlier in the day, Chandler lost her Under-17 encounter 21-4 and 21-6 against Erisa Bleau of Suriname. Fellow national Under-17 female player, Miller was in tears as she too was unsuccessful losing 21-17 and 21-17 to Vivian Huang of Suriname. The Scantlebury brothers, Dominick (16) and Keenan (15), put up strong resistance but fell 15-21, 21-13 and 21-19 to the Krag brothers Kevin and Timothy of Suriname. Nathan King after putting on a great show on the opening game lost his semifinal match 21-15 and 21-13 to Dickson Liao of Suriname in the Under-13 Boys. King then returned to the court later in the afternoon where he teamed up with fellow Barbadian Joshua Bovell-Ward in the Under-15 Boys doubles but lost 21-8 and 21-11 to Diego Dos Ramos and Quinn Van De Leuv of Suriname. The going continued to get tough for Barbados as Jeshai Beckles and Maya Spooner fell victim 21-12 and 21-5 to Janiah Boodoosingh and Danae Mootoosingh in the Under-15 Girls Doubles. Both of Barbados’ Under-13 Girls and Boys doubles teams lost to Trinidad and Tobago. Jade Beckles and Kaila Walcott failed to advance in the girls losing 21-5 and 21-4 to Kara-Ashley Robertson and Amara Urquhart while Daniel Volney and Keenan Watson fell 21-9 and 21-11 to Aditya Maharaj and Jace Smith. Trinidad and Tobago Under-11 boys doubles teams were also unstoppable. Xavi Haynes and Jayden Walcott of Barbados [21-16, 21-12] failed to get past Luke Mollah and Aeden Williams. Meanwhile, the other Barbadian team of Joshua King and Matthew King were trounced 21-4, 21-5 in their contest against Andrew Babwah and Ethan Ramcharan. Please also see Pages 52 and 53. morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb