Top 10 for Francis
JAMAICAN GYMNAST Danusia Francis finished in the top 10 in Jamaica’s first gymnastics final as the Pan American Games continued in Lima, Peru, yesterday. The 25-year-old Francis finished seventh in the women’s all round final with a total score of 51.650 points, resulting from 12.750 points in both the uneven bars and the balance beam events, 12.650 in the floor exercise, and 13.500 in the vault event.
Elizabeth Black of Canada repeated as champion with a combined score of 55.250 points. Black produced top scores in the vault (14.450 points) and the uneven bars
(14.300 points) events and a strong score on the balance beam (13.900 points). Black suffered a penalty in the floor exercise, lowering her score to 12.600, but her results in the previous events were strong enough to claim gold. The United
States’(US) Riley
McCusker took silver
with a combined 55.125 points, while Brazil’s Flavia Saraiva won bronze with 54.350 points ahead of Kara Eaker of the US. Francis will continue to make history as she competes in the individual balance beam final tomorrow from the Villa El Salvador Sports Centre. Black, McCusker, and Saraiva will also be in the final looking to add to their medal haul.
In badminton, Katherine Wynter defeated Sabrina Scott of Barbados in straight sets 22-20, 22-11 to advance to the round of 16. Wynter had earlier outclassed Kelly Yau of Panama 21-4, 21-3 in the round of 64. Tahlia Richardson could not get past the round of 32 as she was beaten by Tamisha Williams of Barbados 21-19, 21-15. The men experienced mixed results themselves as Gareth Henry lost in straight sets to Ruben Castellanos of Guatemala 21-12, 21-5 in the round of 32. However, Samuel Ricketts defeated Narayan Ramdhani of Guyana in their round-of-32 clash to advance to the round of 16.