The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas’ team of Rajahl Moxey and Gaege Smith came so close to qualifying for a spot in the beach volleyball competition at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.

Over the weekend at the final qualifying tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the duo of Moxey and Smith, coached by DeVince Smith, ended up in fifth place. They needed to finish in the top two in order to book their trip in July.

“I was pleased with the overall performance even though I feel we could have made a better showing against the higher seeded countries in the US and Costa Rica,” Smith said. “Having little time to prepare, I was happy we were able to improve on our rankings and coming out on top of the English-speaking Caribbean.

“It was good that we made the necessary adjustments, especially against Trinidad and this time coming out on top, having played on neutral ground.”

Smith, who serves as president of the New Providence Volleyball Association, said the team was appreciative of the support they got from Wellington Miller, president of the Bahamas Olympic Committee, who also travelled with the team. According to Smith, Miller was pleased with the level of play and accomplishment. He treated the team to dinner after competition on the final day in the sun and rain.

At the end of the tournament, the Bahamas trailed fourth place Costa Rica and was just ahead of sixth place Trinidad & Tobago. The United States and Puerto Rico were first and second as they clinched the two qualifying spots for Nanjing. In third place was Nicaragua. Rounding out the rest of the field in order were El Salvador (7th), Mexico (8th), Dominica (9th), Barbados (10th), United States Virgin Islands (11th) and St Lucia (12th).

On the final day of competition, the Bahamas faced the experienced third seated team from Costa Rica in the quarter finals and lost to Sebastian Valenciano and Alejandro Gonzalez 21-8 and 21-14.

Moxey and Smith ended up playing for position as they defeated Mexico before facing rivalries Marlon Phillips and Kareem Thomas of Trinidad & Tobago, avenging an earlier defeat by winning 21-15 and 21-16 to clinch the fifth place finish.

On the first day of competition, the Bahamas lost to the American team of Louis Richard and Torey DeFalco 21-9 and 21-10. Later in the day the Bahamas played St Lucia in the final preliminary game, pulling off a 21-10, 21-12 victory over Andre Marquis and Alexander Augier to finish second in pool C and secured a spot in the quarterfinals.

It was the second time that Moxey and Smith attempted to qualify for the Bahamas. In December, the duo fell short in the first round of the qualifying tournament in Trinidad & Tobago.

“As this is an easier opportunity to make the Olympics as a team sport, we hope to implement a beach programmes and hopefully a league to allow our senior and junior players more opportunities and exposure with hopes of them representing the Bahamas at the highest level,” said DeVince Smith, whose Scotiabank Defenders club recently hosted a beach volleyball team at the Bahamas Football Association’s Beach Volleyball Complex.

Moxey and Smith teamed up to use the tournament as a tune up for the Youth Olympic qualifier, having had the opportunity to play against the winning team of Muller Petit and Renaldo Knowles, as well as runners-up Byron Ferguson and Prince Wilson.