Bahamas water polo goes 2-1 on opening day of CARIFTA

Bahamas water polo goes 2-1 on opening day of CARIFTA
Team Bahamas under 16 water polo.

Team Bahamas is 2-1 so far through the 2018 Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) Water Polo Championships in Kingston, Jamaica.

The under-16 boys got off to a good start, dominating Barbados on its way to its first win of the tournament.

Team Bahamas under 14 water polo.

Behind five goals from Gabriel Sastre, team Bahamas cruised to a wire-to-wire 20-2 win over Barbados. Thomas Illing, Gabriel Encinar and Jelani Grant had three goals each, Ale Turnquest and Thor Sasso had two each, and Nicholas Wallace-Whitfield and Liam Mills had one goal apiece.

Barbados got its revenge in the under-19 boys division however, edging The Bahamas 19-12. Loron Bain and Nicholas Wallace-Whitfield had three goals each, Sequan Miller had two and Adonis Sasso, Joshua Knowles, Adrian Burrows and Gabriel Sastre each scored a goal in the loss.

In the under-14 division, team Bahamas knocked off Jamaica 18-5. Dominic Beneby had six in the win, Oliver Roberts and Jayden Fernander had three each, and both Dominic Demeritte and Skyler Dean has two goals each.

Team Bahamas under 19 water polo.

Championship action continues at the National Center on Saturday. The morning session is set for 9 a.m., while the evening session kicks off at 6 p.m.

Team Bahamas is looking to build on an impressive showing at last year’s games. In the under-19 division, the boys barely missed out on capturing the gold, losing a heartbreaker to Jamaica 8-7. The under-16 boys avenged the loss and rebounded to win gold in the division final.

Team Bahamas rattled off four unanswered goals in the third quarter to go ahead 5-3. Barbados nailed a goal to cut the lead to 5-4 with just 35 seconds remaining, but team Bahamas was able to seal the deal down the stretch.

About Randy Smith

Randy Smith is the producer of the widely-watched local television show “Beyond The Headlines” and the web content manager of Eyewitness News. He joined Eyewitness News as a sportscaster in 2018, a role he still performs, and has previously covered a slew of international sporting events, including the 2015 Pan American Games, the Nike EYBL Showcase, several IAAF World Relays, the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, the Commonwealth Youth Games, the Bahamas Bowl and multiple CARIFTA Swimming and Track & Field Championships. Randy has been recognized by the Bahamas Press Club with awards for “Best Sports Broadcast” as a sportscaster and “Best TV Talk Show” as a producer.