Coach of Jamaica's women's table tennis team, Clive Grossett, admitted that they were underprepared going into the 48th Caribbean Championships, where they were crushed 3-0 by Trinidad and Tobago in the team final Tuesday night at the University of Technology.

"In my opinion, there was not enough preparation for the girls," Grossett noted.

He said the timing of the event, being so close to Christmas, did not give them ample time to prepare and in addition, some of the players were preparing for exams.

"Up to yesterday (Monday night), one of our players was sitting exams at the UWI," Grossett disclosed.

Grossett is the personal coach of 15-year-old Yvonne Foster, Jamaica's top player, who was beaten 3-0 by Trinidad's Rheann Chung, while, Jamaica's Shenique Clare 19, was shut-out 3-0 by Astra Edwards, 27, and 14 year-old Kristen McKenzie was defeated 3-1 by 13-year-old Trinidad dynamo, Catherine Spicer.

Jamaica had a young team but they weren't expected to be beaten so easily.

Foster was never in the hunt and was humbled 11-7, 11-4, 11-6 by the seasoned Chung. Jamaica quickly fell 2-0 when the experienced Edwards swept all three games 11-0, 11-6, 11-9 against Clare. The third match was between McKenzie and Spicer, who won in four sets - 11-5, 11-8 , 8-11, 11-4 to complete a 3-0 rout for the Trinidadians.

Trinidad and Tobago's coach, Aleena Edwards, was happy with the victory and surprised with Jamaica's lack of fight.

"I expected a little bit more from Jamaica, but we set out to come back from Jamaica with the gold and we accomplished that," Edwards said. She predicted that Jamaica would come back next year with a better performance.

The women's team competition was a straight final, as only two teams were registered. Last year's champions, Venezuela, were not included as the international body transformed the tournament from its Caribbean and Central American format to have only Caribbean teams vying for titles.

The players now turn their attention to the doubles and singles competitions. The tournament ends tomorrow.