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The T&T Under-18 men’s handball team had their hopes of contesting the gold medal playoffs in the 2026/2027 Youth (Under-18) Men’s IHF Trophy North America and The Caribbean (Youth) Championship ended after a second consecutive heavy defeat in Puerto Rico Wednesday (October 7).
Beaten 17-62 by Canada in their opening match of the four-team Group A round-robin series, T&T were overwhelmed by Mexico 11-51 in their second match at the Puerto Rico Olympic Training Centre in Toa Baja.
Leading the scoring for the dominant Mexicans who held a commanding 29-5 lead at the half-time whistle was Ruben Dario Villa Duarte with a match-high 11 goals and Luis Yahir Padilla Govea with ten.
Mexico beat 27-32 by Guadeloupe in their tournament, also getting five goals each from Angel Damian Palma and Sual Ernesto Alonso, while Aingeru Didier Cordova and Jose Aron Villareal fired in four goals apiece, Mario Cesar Ramesar three, and the quartet of Santiago Inigo Perez, Gael Francisco Arguells, Jesus Santiago Cristo, Bruno Pinon Trejo, and Nicolas Herrera Gomez, one.
For T&T, Reanan Howard had a team-high four goals, while Alexie Alexis and Jervais Edwards-Caracciolo added three, and Zayden Charles, the other.
On Tuesday in their opening match, the Kenwin Goden-coached team, behind two months of preparations and little time to recover from their late-night arrival into Puerto Rico, went under to Canada 17-62 after trailing 5-31 at the end of the first 30-minute half.
Howard was also the top scorer for T&T against the Canadians with six goals, while Elijah Roberts added four, Zion Roberts three, Edwards-Caracciolo two, and Cordell Edwards and Josiah John-Andrew one each.
Leo Bradette had a tournament-high 14 goals in the contest to inspire the Canadians to the statement win, while Olivier Houle (nine), Emile Collin (eight), Nohan Bisou (5), Lucas Manzano (5), Massil Zemouche (4), Isaac Caillardetz (4), Victor Poulin (3), Mathias Rousseau (3), Leo Lapostolle (3), Anas Abdelhak (2) and Malik Caron (2) were also among the goals.
Canada made it two wins on the trot after battling past Guadeloupe 29-28 following a 17-14 lead after the first 30 minutes.
Speaking after the match against Mexico, T&T coach Goden said he was happy with the improved display from his team.
Goden said, “Our performance today was way better than what we did in the first game on Tuesday. We perfeormed much better in defence and attack.
“This was after we had a good team talk about our energy levels and I’m looking forward to our match tomorrow against Guadeloupe where we are hoping for a much better performance as well.”
Today, T&T face Guadeloupe in their final round-robin group phase match from 1 pm, while Canada faces Mezico from 3 pm.
On Tuesday night in Group B, defending champions USA battled past host Puerto Rico 31-28 after leading 16-12 at the break, while Greenland edged Martinique 29-28 after holding a 14-13 lead at the half-time intervention.
Last night, Greenland met the USA, and Puerto Rico battled Martinique, while today, the USA faces Martinique and Puerto Rico tackles Greenland to end pool play.
The tournament in Puerto Rico is the official continental youth handball championship for the region and serves as the start to the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games 2028 qualifying campaign and a Youth World Cup qualifier.
The eight teams are competing for two tickets to the IHF Intercontinental Trophy in spring 2027, as well as a direct qualification spot for the 2027 IHF Men’s Under-19 World Championship in Poland.
At the end of the round-robin phase, the top two teams in each group will qualify for the semifinals, while the third-place teams meet for the fifth and sixth spots, with the fourth-placed teams clashing for the seventh spot.
T&T team: Alexie Alexis, Zayden Charles, Taalib Daniel, Jovan Denoon (GK), Cordell Edwards, Josiah Drayton, Jervais Edwards-Caracciolo, Dominic Henry, Kymani Herbert (GK), Raanan Howard, Josiah John-Andrew, Zion Roberts, Elijah Roberts.
Technical staff: Kenwin Goden (head coach), Derice Biggart (assistant coach), Stephawn Solomon (assistant coach), Kern George, head of delegation and safeguarding officer.
English (US) ·