TRINIDAD and Tobago's men are off to a flying start at the Caribbean Table Tennis Championships in Dominican Republic.

Seeded to win the team event, T&T brushed aside Curacao 3-0 and Guadeloupe 3-1 to win Group 1 and advance to the knockout phase of the competition.

Four-time Caribbean singles champion Dexter St Louis, Curtis Humphreys, the top-ranked locally-based player, and 14-year-old Arun Roopnarine were all triumphant in three straight games against Curacao.

National under-21 champion Roopnarine, making his debut at senior level, lost a heart-breaking five-setter in the Guadeloupe encounter, but Humphreys just got home in five and the France-based St Louis won twice in straight games.

Puerto Rico, St Lucia and Haiti are in Group 2, while Guyana, French Guiana and hosts Dominican Republic comprise Group Three and Aruba, Barbados and Jamaica make up Group Four.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals.

The women's event is a straight round-robin competition, featuring Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and T&T.

This country's women brushed aside Barbados 3-0, but were edged out 3-2 by Guyana, despite the fact that France-based Rheann Chung won her two matches.

The four-time Caribbean singles champ beat top junior Chelsea Edghill 11-8, 11-9, 11-5, but was forced to battle back after losing the first two games to dismiss Trenace Lowe 8-11, 8-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-3.

Lowe,  the winner of her last three tournaments in T&T, and Edghill, who has also been making waves down here recently, both beat Quashie in four games, while Linda Partap-Boodham was nosed out in five by Natalie Cummings.

The team events will be followed by doubles and the tournament will conclude with singles on Sunday.

Selected results:

WOMEN – T&T bt Barbados 3-0 – R. Chung bt K. Harvey 11-5, 11-2, 11-3; A. Quashie bt A. Reid 7-11, 3-11, 11-5, 11-5, 12-10, L. Boodhan bt A. Riley 11-1, 10-12, 11-5, 11-5.

Guyana bt T&T 3-2 – T. Lowe bt A. Quashie 10-12, 11-7, 11-3, 11-3; C. Edghill lost to R. Chung 8-11, 9-11, 5-11; N, Cummings bt L. Partap-Boodhan 12-10, 7-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-9; T. Lowe lost to R. Chung 11-8, 11-8, 10-12, 10-12, 3-11.

MEN – T&T bt Curacao 3-0 – D. St Louis bt M, Dalnoot 11-7, 11-5, 11-5; C. Humphreys bt D. Leon 11-5, 11-8, 12-10; A. Roopnarine bt E. Van Van Vendendaal 11-4, 11-8, 11-4.

T&T bt Guadeloupe 3-1 – C. Humphreys C. Ciderme 10-12, 11-7, 9-11, 11-2, 11-9; D. St Louis bt A. Libique 11-3, 11-4, 11-5; A. Roopnarine lost to G. Cuirassier 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 9-11; D. St Louis bt C. Ciderme 11-8, 11-3, 11-8.