Cayman’s women’s basketball team took to the court one last time at the Island Games on 14 July, emerging with a silver medal after an 89-50 loss in the gold medal match versus defending champions Menorca.
As well as a clear improvement over the team’s fifth-place finish last time out, that silver medal marks a first podium appearance for Cayman Islands women’s basketball on this stage since the country’s bronze medal at the 2003 Island Games (coincidentally, the same year that the Games were last in Guernsey). Cayman’s assistant coach, Cory McGee, said that the team’s mission was to push for the podium with “conviction, passion and purpose”.
“It was just a great experience all around for the team, just to go through that fire and have to believe in themselves and have to trust each other to get the victories that they achieved,” McGee said.
The Menorcan women, who proved the Cayman team’s biggest foe in the basketball events at these Games having also prevailed in the group stage match between the two, went unbeaten in Guernsey to win its third successive Island Games gold and its sixth in the last seven tournaments.
McGee said Cayman’s senior national team are due some time off when they arrive back on island on 17 July, but that he is scheduled to take a group of U15 national team girls to an Orlando Magic basketball camp later this month.
“Watch this space,” McGee added. “Cayman Islands women’s basketball is on the rise.”
Men’s basketball secures bronze
With a 74-43 win over the Isle of Wight in the early hours of Friday morning Cayman time, the men’s basketball team earned a bronze medal to claim a spot on the Island Games podium for a third straight time, adding the 18th and final medal to Cayman’s tally at these Games.
Due to the chosen format of the tournament in Guernsey, Cayman’s second-place finish in Group A behind the unbeaten Menorcan men’s squad meant the team had to settle for the bronze-medal match. While it may not have been the third gold medal in a row that they hoped for coming into the Games, head coach Duran Whittaker was pleased that his team did not leave Guernsey empty-handed.
“We got better as the competition went on,” Whittaker said. “The format was not ideal, should’ve played a semifinal format… but no excuses.”
When asked what’s next for his team, who will no doubt target a return to the top of the podium two years from now, Whittaker’s response was simple: “To get better.”
In the gold-medal match, meanwhile, 2019 Island Games silver medal winners Saaremaa – who fell at the final hurdle to the Cayman Islands team in Gibraltar four years ago – took home the gold after a close-fought 76-73 win over Menorca.
Elsewhere in Guernsey
The final day of the Games also saw action in athletics, cycling, golf, table tennis and tennis to conclude a busy week of sports for Cayman’s athletes.
Jordanna Liu and Ryan Zhu made it to the quarterfinal stage of the table tennis mixed doubles event on 14 July after seeing off the team from Greenland earlier that day.
However, Cayman’s duo was beaten 3-1 in the quarterfinals by the eventual champions from Guernsey. Two days prior, on 12 July, Liu made a run to the same stage in the women’s singles tournament before a back-and-forth match eventually went against her. Katherine Vinas of the Isle of Man, who defeated Liu 4-3 in that singles quarterfinal, went on to win a bronze medal in the event.
Capping off a promising return to the international tennis scene, Cayman’s mixed doubles team of Calvin Cheng and Lea Neverilova were beaten by the eventual plate champions, falling 0-2 to Louis Keenan and Emily Frost of Jersey. The Cayman duo was beaten in the main draw tournament earlier in the week which placed them in the competition for the plate.
Cayman’s final showing in the track-and-field events at these Games came in the form of Esmond Brown’s half marathon. Brown finished the race in a new personal best time of one hour, 16 minutes and 13 seconds to place 23rd out of 32 runners, describing a “fantastic experience” with “amazing support”.
“The race was high quality and tough conditions,” Brown said. “I’d hoped to run quicker, but it was still a PB.”
Cyclists Victor Magalhaes and Jerome Ameline claimed their best placings of the Games in their last outing, finishing 28th and 31st, respectively, in the individual town criterium event on 14 July.
Golfers Barry Daly, Jason Perras and Payten Wight’s fourth and final round saw the trio take 11th place out of 18 teams in the men’s golf team event. In the individual golf events, Daly (men’s) and Lauren Needham (women’s) were Cayman’s highest placed finishers, with both coming in 16th.
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Led by our swimmers Cayman performed very well against stiff competition finishing 11th out of 24 in the medal table. Looking at the individual results, aside from our swimmers, we had some excellent results accross the board in every event where although we may not have achieved medals in all sports our athletes still had some great performances without the home advantage that makes a big difference.