Down but not out
SANTIAGO, Chile — Jamaica’s end to day two of the Pan American Games here on Sunday did not go as planned.
Boxer Sanji Williams, competing in the men’s 63.5kg category against Mexico’s Miguel Angel Martinez Rodriguez, left the complex in an ambulance for observation but was responsive after two knockdowns forced an end to the bout in the first round.
Jamaica’s boxing coach, Floyd Trumpet, thought Williams had a bright start.
“Nothing really went wrong,” Trumpet told the Jamaica Observer. “He started out well and he got hit a couple of times; he got two eight-counts and we had to call it off. I think he was hurt; his legs were wobbly both times [for each eight count] so it was a good stop.”
Trumpet, a Guyanese coach employed to aid the team’s training for the games, is surprised at the outcome as he thought Williams prepared well coming into the bout.
“He looked good,” he said. “He was training in Jamaica but during our small camp we had for a couple of days, we were looking good.”
Trumpet sees this as a mental setback for Williams.
“It would be a big mental setback for anyone,” he said. “You could get hurt in a big game and taken to the hospital.”
Trumpet is disappointed not only for Williams but also for Jaden Ecclestone, Jamaica’s other boxer who lost on Saturday, as they both aimed at qualifying for the Olympics from this competition.
“Jamaica is a country with a lot of talent,” he said. “I think the boxing board should invest in the youth and give probably about four or five guys a chance to go into camp for the next qualifier, which will be in February next year in Italy.”
Meanwhile at the same complex, Jamaica’s mixed doubles badminton team of Samuel Ricketts and Tahlia Richardson went down 2-0 to Mexico’s Luis Armando Montoya Navarro and Miriam Rodriguez Perez.
The men’s doubles team of Ricketts and Bradley Evans also lost to Brazil’s Davi Carvalho Marinho Da Silva and Fabricio Ruan Rocha Farias 2-0.
Richardson exited the singles competition 2-0 to the United States of America’s Gai Jennie, as did Katherine Wynter to Canada’s Rachel Jun Ling Chan.
But they did advance to the quarter-finals of the women’s double with a 2-0 win over Chile’s Camila Ignacia Astorga Carvajal and Valeria Catalina Santos Jamet.
Gymnast Tyesha Mattis finished 15th in the uneven bars and 33rd in the beams despite competing with discomfort in her ankle, causing her not to finish her set of routines.
Jamaica’s women’s football team lost 7-0 to Mexico in their opening match of Group A.
Brandon Sealy did not advance from the round of 16 in the men’s kyorugi 80kg event of taekwondo. He went down 2-1 to Brazil’s Lucas De Krishna Ostapiv.
Omari Mears placed 13th in the men’s 89kg section of the weightlifting preliminary round.
In swimming, the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay team of Emily MacDonald, Kito Campbell, Sabrina Lyn, and Sidrell Williams finished seventh in their heat with a time of 3:47.47 minutes.
Lyn also finished seventh in the women’s 100m butterfly in 1:04.09, as did Williams in the men’s equivalent in 56.79 seconds.
Wainright was third and last in the 200m backstroke heats in 2:32.72 minutes.
