Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter
Jamaica's Alia Atkinson swims to a gold medal in the women's 100 metre breaststroke at Central American and Caribbean Games in Cartagena, Colombia on Tuesday night. It was one of two gold for the Jamaican on the evening. - REUTERS
ALIA ATKINSON had a spectacular night at the XX Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Cartagena, Colombia on Tuesday, winning two gold medals to push Jamaica to seventh on the table.
Atkinson won the 100 metre breaststroke and the 50m butterfly.
In the breaststroke event, Atkinson (28.59 seconds) got the better of Trinidad and Tobago's Sharntelle McClean (28.62) and Mexico's Teresa Lopez (28.81) in a close race.
In the 50m butterfly, Atkinson (1:12.24) again had to fight off a strong challenge from Mexico's Adriano Marmolejo (1:12.41).
Venezuela's Danielle Victoria continued to do her country proud, copping another bronze medal in 1:14.70.
SCRATCH CYCLING
Jamaica also mined gold in the scratch cycling event through Oneil Samuels.
The scratch is an event in which the riders line up at the start line and race for a number of laps to see who gets past the post first.
In that event, Samuels got the better of Venezuela's Miguel Chacon and the Dominican Republic's Vladimir Estevez.
At press time last night, Jamaica were also in the running for more medals in squash, as the women's doubles team of Karen Anderson and Marlene Rabbes came from a set down to make it past the quarter-final stage against the Barbadian team of Sonia Perkins and Karen Meakins.
Barbados started well, winning the first set 15-9, but were then given a taste of their own medicine in the second with the scores being reversed. The Jamaicans then fought to make it to the semis with a 15-12 victory.
The semi-finals of the women's doubles as well as the quarter-finals of the men's doubles were in progress at press time.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM DEFEATED
Jamaica's women's basketball team suffered its third defeat of the competition, going down 64-54 to Colombia on Tuesday, having already lost to Mexico and Cuba. Oberon Pitterson was Jamaica's top scorer with 20 points.
The Young Reggae Boyz will play their second game of the competition today when they take on Costa Rica. While the Jamaicans are already assured of a place in the quarter-finals after Costa Rica beat Haiti 2-1 on Tuesday night, they still face an important game in terms of their medal hopes.
If Jamaica win today they will play against Panama, an easier prospect for them than if they were to lose and face the highly-fancied Colombian team.
