DON’T BUY INTO the name of the Games, because Barbados are quickly finding out that the wealth isn’t common for everyone in Delhi.
Two days of badminton and the Barbadians have yet to win a single match, far less a game, having succumbed to successive 5-0 sweeps at the hands of the hosts and Scotland at the Commonwealth Games.
The rut started on the opening day when Barbados men’s and women’s No.1s, Nicholas Reifer and Shari Watson, failed to extend their opponents in the singles matches, going down 21-11, 21-11 and 21-3, 21-3, respectively.
Reifer and Dakeil Thorpe actually fared a bit better in their men’s doubles encounter, leading for the majority of the first game before falling at 16 and 13 to Watson Briggs and Paul Van Rietvelde.
And things only got worse against the second-ranked Indians, even after Watson was switched out for Mariama Eastmond in the women’s singles.
Eastmond fell to world No.3 Saina Nehwal 21-3, 21-6, before pairing with Watson to lose the doubles 21-8, 21-8 against Ashwini Ponappa and Aparna Balan.
So outclassed were the Bajans that Reifer was the lone player to accumulate more than nine points in any one game, in his 21-14, 21-6 defeat to Parupalli Kashyap.
Reifer didn’t duplicate that effort again in either the men’s or mixed doubles, though.
In swimming, Raymond Edwards couldn’t advance past his opening heat of the 100 metres breaststroke yesterday, coming seventh in Heat 2 after posting a time of 1:09.33.
Barbados tennis’ No.1 Haydn Lewis also followed suit in the men’s singles, as Kiwi Rubin Statham accounted for the Bajan ace in a 6-2, 6-1 straight sets beating in the tournament’s first round.
Fast-rising cyclist Darren Matthews provided Barbados’ lone source of success after advancing to today’s 40 km points race final.
Racing in heat 1, Matthews collected a total of three points to finish eighth overall in an 18-man group. (JM
