JAMAICA YESTERDAY lost their first Group A game against 2003 champions Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Table Tennis Championships in Puerto Rico.
Jamaica's Nigel Webb lost a tough five-setter 3-2 to Juan Villa Jr.
Webb lost the first set 9-11 before he showed good fighting spirit to win the next two, 11-7 and 11-9.
However, Webb was to crumble towards the end, after being thumped 6-11 in the fourth set and narrowly being pipped 9-11 in the final.
Christopher Marsh fared no better as he was whipped three sets to one by the 2000 singles champion Robert Britto 7-11, 12-10, 7-11, 6-11.
The controversial Joseph Dibbs, who made a comeback to national team action this year after a turbulent time as president of the Jamaica Table Tennis Association (JTTA) found the fire power of Emile Santos just too much to deal with as he too went down 3-1.
Dibbs never started well, losing the first set 8-11 before returning to pull out a 12-10 second-set victory. He was never in the game again though, going down 6-11, 6-11 in the final two sets.
Jamaica's Group A draw also includes 2004 champions Puerto Rico and Guyana.
In Group B, Trinidad and Tobago are joined by Barbados, St. Lucia and Aruba.
The tournament is up for grabs this year with the absence of last year's champions Guatemala.
The competition is structured in a round-robin format with individuals playing best-of-five sets. The top two teams from each group will make it to the semi-finals.
Jamaica were scheduled to play against Guyana last night but at press time no results were available.
