National Coach Neil Lewis said that he was impressed with the performances of both the junior and senior teams at the recent Caribbean Regional Badminton Confederation (CAREBACO) Championships held at the National Racquet Centre in Trinidad and Tobago.

Jamaica, who went with 17 junior players and 12 seniors players, won a total of 20 medals inclusive of five gold, four silver and 11 bronze.

Gold medals were won in the Senior Team event, senior men’s doubles (Samuel Ricketts and Gareth Henry), boys’ singles Under-19 (Shane Wilson); boys’ doubles Under-19 (Shane Wilson and Joel Angus) and girls’ doubles Under-15 (Cemba Griffiths from Jamaica and Erisa Bleau from Suriname).

Jamaica got silver medals through the junior team event, boys’ singles in the Open International Under-19 (Shane Wilson), boys’ singles Under-19 (Joel Angus) and mixed doubles Under-19 (Shane Wilson and Alana Bailey).

The bronze medals came in the men’s doubles (Dennis Coke and Anthony McNee), men’s singles (Samuel Ricketts) and mixed doubles (Samuels Ricketts and Katherine Wynter) in the Open International event, boys’ doubles (Shane Wilson and Joel Angus) in the Under-19 Open International event, and in the junior individual events: mixed doubles Under-19 (Joel Angus and Taina Daley), mixed doubles Under-17 (Mikhael Williams and Shezelle McTyson), boys’ singles Under-17 (Mikhael Williams), girls’ singles Under-15 (Tahlellah Townsend), boys’ doubles Under-13 (Keyondre McBean and Andre Stewart), boys’ singles Under-13 (Keyondre McBean) and mixed doubles Under-13 (Rihanna Rust and Andre Stewart).

While he was confident in the senior team to do good, Lewis said the junior team surpassed his expectation as the young players showed maturity in their performances.

“The junior team performed better than what I expected, while the senior performed the way that they should, but overall it was a very good showing of both teams. The juniors, especially, really stood up to the task and I must congratulate them for a very good showing at the championship. I mean, based on training and the conditions, they did very well as they showed maturity and determination.

“This goes to show that there is a lot of talent here in Jamaica and we need to grow this talent as well. The will to win and the will to achieve the best in players were always evident and it showed on the courts. We need to enter more international tournaments to expose the younger players to different levels and styles of play which will help them improve and increase their games,” Lewis told the Jamaica Observer at a press conference at the Jamaica Olympic Association yesterday.

Denzil Wilks, general manager at Sports Development Foundation, long-time sponsors of badminton, said that his organisation will continue to support the game.

“To me, badminton is not what I could call a familiar sport. I became more interested in the badminton when I realised the sport has gone into a place where I came from and that is the inner-city. When I realised that the sport has been spread across the length and breadth of the nation, including the rural areas, I was very happy and I would say that I have become a little more accustomed to rules and I have a better appreciation of the sport.

“It is a revelation and a wonderful development to see the performance achieved by our players. We have been supporting this sport and will continue to do so,” Wilks said.