| CASTRIES, St Lucia: St. Lucia Team One, represented by Joseph Clercent and Sheldon Descartes were required to come from a set down to take gold in the Men’s Final of Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) Senior Beach Volleyball Tournament here at the Cul de Sac Bay.
In an all St Lucia finale, Clercent and Descartes, beat the St Lucia Team Two, composed of Rio Victor and Darnell Eudoxie, 2-1 (14-21, 21-15, 15-4). Experienced showed when it mattered most, as Clercent and Descartes, with their title on the line, kept their composure, clawing back after trailing. They, thus played unbeaten in the Tournament, finishing with five wins. Both Clercent and Descartes were happy that they were able to maintain their hold on the title, stating that their experienced counted. “We have the experience, the knowledge and we have the game ethics, hence we were able to outpower them with our shots. We attacked them mentally and that broke down the younger players and we were able to capitalize on them”, Clercent assessed. Meanwhile, Descartes is pleased that younger players are coming through. “I like that we are seeing new talents coming through which means that more Volleyball is being played in those countries, hence, I am encouraging the young players to play Beach Volleyball, as it will help them in their indoor or court game”, Descartes said. Before reaching the final, Clercent and Descartes had earlier in the day three, saw off St Lucia’s Team Three of Jevauny Roberts and Peter Emmanuel, 2-0(21-12, 21-11), as they dueled in the quarter finals. They then had a 2-0 (21-16, 21-16) trumping over the St Vincent and the Grenadines duo of Jamaar Cropper and Ronaldo Franklyn, in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, Victor and Eudoxie beat Antigua and Barbuda’s Adrian Constant and Jamarie James 2-0 (21-19, 21-14) in their semifinal pairing. Before that, they overcame St Kitts and Nevis’ duo of Elkreen Morton and Clerique Ward 2-1( 21-16, 18-21, 15-10) in the quarter final. In other quarter final results, Constant and James had a 2-0 ( 21-19, 21-14) win over Grenada’s Darren Oxford and Isaac Nelson, while Cropper/ Franklyn in combination beat Yahn Florent and Ray Robinson of Dominica 2-0(21-17, 21-11). St Vincent and the Grenadines took the bronze medal, as Cropper and Franklyn outdid Constant and James, 2-0 (21-16, 23-21) The other teams that sought honours in the tournament were Bermuda, Dominica Team Two, British Virgin Islands and Anguilla. |
