BARBADOS will start what is expected to be a rugged campaign this morning when they come up against Colombia and Mexico on the opening day of table tennis at the Central American and Caribbean Games in San German, Puerto Rico.The women’s team will be up against a strong Colombian side that includes Paula Medina, Johana Araque and Natalia Bedoya. Barbados will select from Sherice Felix, Sabrina Worrell, Julia Morris and Ann Reid. The women’s match is scheduled for a 9 a.m. start to be followed at 11 a.m. by the Barbados men against Mexico.Barbados will be looking to United States-based player Robert Roberts to create a major impact against a tough Mexican line-up of Marcos Madrid, Jude Okoh, Duillemo Munoz and Salvador Uribe. Mark Dowell, Andy Carrington and Trevor Farley complete the Barbados squad.Twelve countries are competing in the women’s draw. These are El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela, Columbia and Barbados.In the men’s section, Barbados and Mexico will be joined by 12 other nations including Aruba, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Jamaica, Panama, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela.Roberts is particularly keen to get going as it will be his first outing with the national team since the 2006 Commonwealth Games.“It’s a great feeling reuniting with my teammates,” Roberts told NATIONSPORT from the Games Village in San German.“I have not seen some of them for such a long time. I feel very proud to be part of the team. There are some new members but it’s still the Barbados team,” Roberts said.“It would be great to win a medal, especially in the team competition but also in singles and doubles. We have to take one step at a time,” Roberts said.Much is expected of the former Barbados national champion, who captured the Caribbean singles title on three occasions and is now rated in the top 17 players in the USA.According to team manager Marguerita Felix, the team had a very productive training session yesterday in preparation for today’s opening matches.
