The Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games, hosted in the Dominican Republic, delivered a day of mixed results for Team Barbados on Friday, with standout young tennis player Hannah Chambers stepping into the spotlight as the island nation’s only multiple winner across all contested events.
Chambers delivered two gritty performances to claim two victories over the day, first advancing through the women’s singles draw with a hard-fought three-set win over El Salvador’s Gabriella Tevez. After claiming the opening set 6-3, the Barbadian dropped the second frame 3-6 as Tevez found her rhythm on the hard court. But Chambers dug deep in the decisive third set, adjusting her serve placement and closing out key points to secure a 6-4 win and a spot in the tournament’s second round.
Her compatriot Gabrielle Leslie suffered an early exit in women’s singles, falling 6-3 6-1 to Dominican home crowd favorite Ana Zamburek in the round of 32. But Leslie bounced back quickly to join Chambers in the women’s doubles draw, where the pair dominated their Venezuelan opponents to take a straight-sets 6-4, 6-1 win and advance to the next round of competition.
Other Barbadian tennis competitors were not as fortunate on the day. Kaipo Marshall was eliminated in the first round of men’s singles after a tightly contested three-set battle against Jamaica’s Nicholas Gore, with the final scoreline reading 6-4, 2-6, 5-7. El Salvador’s Caesar Cruz also claimed a straight-sets win over Barbados’ Stephen Slocombe, knocking Slocombe out of the singles draw with a 6-4, 6-2 victory.
Away from the tennis courts, Barbados’ other competitors faced their own early-round challenges. Archer Javier Jordan, the first Barbadian athlete to compete on Friday, finished 20th out of 29 entrants in the opening round of the men’s individual compound event.
In team badminton action on day two of group play, El Salvador claimed a 4-1 win over the Barbadian side. The only bright spot for the Caribbean nation came from the doubles pairing of Kennie King and Shai Martin, who pulled out a three-set win over their opponents 21-17, 18-21, 21-17. All other singles and doubles matchups on the day fell to El Salvador. The result follows a rocky start to group play for Barbados: after opening the tournament with a 4-1 loss to Venezuela on Thursday, the Barbadian quartet suffered a 5-0 blanking at the hands of Guatemala in their second group match.