They like their 3-2 matches do the OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) team – having come from behind in both their pool matches, they did it again in the final to claim the title for a first time (well, at least since 1977), going one better than last year’s second spot.
Barbados Ladies once again proved too good for the rest in a women’s team tournament which featured just three entries.
Barbados knew that the overall team title (based on a points system over Men’s, Women’s and Vets teams) could be theirs, but their first priority was to maintain their unbeaten record in the final pool match against Cayman to avoid any possibility of a complicated countback with themselves, Cayman and Jamaica.
Many-time Cayman champion John MaCrury got the hosts off to a good start, coming from 2-1 down to beat Nigel Griffith and claim the Men’s 50+ title in the process. After that though it was all Barbados as they reeled off the next four matches to take the Vets, and the Overall titles. In the process Mark Sealy and Kristina Evelyn maintained their unbeaten records to take the Men’s and Women’s 40+ titles. That rendered Jamaica’s win over T&T irrelevant in terms of team titles – they finished second in the Vets and the Overall, as well as in the Men’s – but it did mean that Douglas Beckford and Gill Binnie took the Men’s Over-60 and Women’s Over-50 titles.