The Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Senior Table Tennis Championships is currently underway at the newly renovated Table Tennis Pavilion in Santo Domingo’s Parque del Este, delivering high-stakes competitive action and surprise breakthroughs from underdog teams across the region.
Heading into the knockout stage, only one English-speaking nation managed to secure a spot in the elite final eight: Saint Lucia. The Caribbean island’s men’s team navigated a challenging Group 2 draw to earn their place in the quarterfinals, marking an impressive milestone for the country’s table tennis program.
Saint Lucia’s road to the knockout rounds started with a tight contest against regional powerhouse Cuba. While the team fell to Cuba overall, it produced a historic individual victory: star player DeAndre Calderon outlasted Cuban Adrian Perez in a five-set thriller, winning 12-10, 7-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-2. This win marks the first time any senior men’s player from Saint Lucia has defeated a Cuban opponent in international competition. Calderon notched another win in the group stage against Jorge Campos, taking the match 3-1 after dropping the opening set, though Cuba ultimately claimed the group win with victories in the remaining two rubbers.
Saint Lucia bounced back from the Cuba loss to secure a critical 3-1 team victory over Trinidad & Tobago, cementing their second-place group finish and knockout spot. The tie began with Calderon sweeping Josiah Joseph in straight sets, before Trinidad & Tobago’s Malik Gopaul leveled the score with a 3-0 win over Manie Eleuthere. Leshon Francis restored Saint Lucia’s lead with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Anson Lowkie, and Calderon closed out the match with a second straight straight-set win over Gopaul to punch Saint Lucia’s ticket to the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinal matchup, Saint Lucia drew eventual tournament champions Puerto Rico, ultimately falling 3-1 to the dominant Puerto Rican squad. Calderon once again delivered a highlight win for Saint Lucia, rallying from two sets down to defeat Puerto Rico’s Enrique Rios 3-2, with set scores of 2-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-5. However, Puerto Rico’s depth proved too much for the Saint Lucian side: Eleuthere fell 3-0 to Angel Naranjo, Francis lost 3-0 to Jadbiel Torres, and Naranjo sealed the Puerto Rican win with a victory over Calderon in the final rubber.
Following their quarterfinal exit, Saint Lucia competed in placement rounds, dropping a 3-0 result to Guatemala and a narrow 3-2 decision to El Salvador, with Calderon picking up two more individual wins in these matches. For Saint Lucia’s women’s team, the tournament served as a valuable developmental opportunity, though the side failed to take a set against group opponents Cuba and Guatemala, finishing at the bottom of their qualifying group.
Puerto Rico left the team competition as the undisputed top performer, claiming both the men’s and women’s team titles with consistent, strong play across all rounds.
Following the conclusion of the team competition, tournament play shifted to the group stages of singles and doubles events on Monday. The 2026 CAC Senior Table Tennis Championships is scheduled to conclude on Wednesday in Santo Domingo. This event is the second of three back-to-back table tennis competitions hosted in the Dominican capital, coming after the 2026 CAC Games qualification tournament and preceding the Caribbean Youth Championships, which will run from March 17 to 23.