The Civic Comes Alive With Basketball and Table Tennis

Good evening, I am Paul Lopez with this week’s edition of Sports Monday. The Belize City Civic Center is the stage for this year’s 2025 Central America Regional Under-eleven and Under-thirteen Table Tennis Champions. The tournament features players from six countries, including Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. Team Belize played its first U-13 Boys Doubles match this morning against Honduras. It was a close one, but unfortunately the team Belize duo, made up of George Espat and Kaiden Aceituno, fell shy of the victory over Honduras. We heard from both athletes.

 

George Espat, Athlete, Team Belize

“We played against Honduras, I think it was a very stressful game. But, we beat my expectations. I thought we would lose bad, but we did pretty good and we played as hard as we could.”

 

Kaiden Aceituno, Athlete, Team Belize

“I was pretty nervous, my first time. The game was very intense. I actually got nine points on them which was unexpected, and for the doubles me and him did very well.”

 

Belize will also be participating in the U-13 Boys Singles, the U-11 Boys and Girls Singles, and the U-11 Boys Doubles throughout the course of the week. The championship tournament is set to conclude on Saturday. The games are free to enter and the President of the Belize Table Tennis Association, Arturo Vasquez, is inviting fans to come out and support Team Belize.

 

Arturo Vasquez, President, Belize Table Tennis Association

“We have a pretty new team and we played the team event and came pretty close. The thing with table tennis is you have to watch the game to see how close it is. I think they did a good job. I think our strength is Mexico and Honduras. They have some pretty good players.”

 

And from fast-paced table tennis action at the Civic Center, we hit rewind and take you back to the Belize Premier Basketball League’s All-Star Weekend, same venue, different vibe. Thursday night was all about star power and friendly competition in the Celebrity All-Star Match. Team Tony Leslie brought out big names like Mayor Bernard Wagner, influencer Wani Arzu, content creator Chosen Kid, and more. They faced off against Team Santiago Castillo Sr., featuring Minister Kareem Musa, Commissioner of Police Dr. Richard Rosado, and yes, our very own Sabreena Daly. It was a night of laughs, highlights, and some surprisingly good moves on the court. Let’s take a look back at some of the best moments from Thursday night.

 

 A long cross court pass from Sherwin Garcia to Artist Hubee…..On the other end, Mayor Wagner with the two-point shot off the backboard…Pass from Tyrone Green to Kris “El Toxico” Alpuche… missed the layup. Sherwin Garcia from deep…. Alpuche got the ball, but Attorney Leroy banner fouled him under the rim. Player down and Ozzy D Clown swopped in to render aid….Alpuche was not having any of it. Second quarter action, an open three from Minister Kareem Musa and he banks the shot.

 

The skills challenge and the rising stars match also took place on Thursday night. Western Ballers Aaron Allison won the skills challenge. The U-21 Cubs defeated the Rising Jaguars, eighty-seven to eighty-four, in the Rising Stars match. Friday night was all about the big all-star matchup between the Mayan All-Stars and the Toucan All-Stars. We have some highlights for you from that match. The Toucan All-Stars dominated with a score of one hundred and thirty-four over their opponents’ one hundred and five points.  Friday night inside the Civic also featured the Three-Point Shootout and the highly anticipated Dunk Contest. Here is some of how those competitions played out.

 

And finally, for tonight, Samira Musa Pott has once again cemented her tennis legacy, after capturing her sixteenth Denise Courtenay National Women’s Singles Championship title in dominant fashion over the weekend. On the other hand, Mike Sosa dominated in the National Men’s Singles Championship. Tennis is alive and well in Belize and champions continue to excel in the discipline.  Well folks, that is all we have for you in tonight’s coverage of Sports Monday. Catch you in the next one.