By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

TOKYO, Japan — Head coach Tito Moss said he’s very pleased with the performances from Team Bahamas at the 20th World Championships and he expects even more from those who haven’t competed as yet.

Nine of The Bahamas’ 15-member team have already competed inside the Japan National Stadium at the championships that got started on Saturday.

The remaining six athletes will be in action during the final five days of competition from today through Sunday when the championships come to a close.

Moss, who is assisted by Daron Lightbourne and Corrington Maycock, said although it’s a mixture of youth and experience, the athletes are giving it their best effort.

“In the 100 metres, we were able to get Anthaya Charlton to the women’s semifinals in 11.14 seconds and Terrence Jones made it through to the men’s semifinals, running 10.10,” Moss said. “They both ran very well in the semifinals.

“In the 400m, we were successful in getting Printassia Johnson through to the semifinals in a personal best of 50.51 seconds and Devynne Charlton was one of the three competitors we had to get to the finals where she placed sixth with her season’s best of 12.49.”

With the makeup of the team, Moss said it was good to get four competitors into the semifinals and one in the final. He indicated that there’s the potential for more to come from the remaining six athletes who are still waiting to compete.

“We have two 200m runners in Anthonique Strachan and Ian Kerr, who we expect will both advance out of the first round,” Mosd projected. “After that, they too will have to put their best foot forward in the semis to get to the final.

“Then we have Rhema Otabor and Keyshawn Strachan, both javelin throwers who we expect to represent well. We also have Kaiwan Culmer, who should qualify for the men’s triple jump final and Kendrick Thompson should be right in the mix with the decathletes over the weekend.”

According to Moss, he’s confident that these six athletes left will perform just as well as the first nine from the first half of the championships.

“On the back end of the championships, we still have a lot of firepower waiting to compete for Team Bahamas,” said Moss, who indicated that all of the athletes are motivated to compete from day one.

“The athletes who haven’t competed yet are anxious to get out and compete. They have been practicing and preparing for their performances. Everybody is upbeat and looking forward to competing.”

Although there were a lot of expectations for Team Bahamas coming into the championships, Moss said not getting a medal yet and if they don’t, it won’t diminish the performances of the athletes.

“I5’s always our goal and our expectations to bring back some hardware as with any team that travels to represent the Bahamas. That’s the goal,” Moss proclaimed.

“But you also have to know that this is the senior World Championships. This is the best of the best and we’ve seen in this championship where Olympic champions have gotten upset. So we’re grateful for how our athletes are performing against the best in the world.”

Moss said Bahamians should note that at this level, all athletes are just a jump, throw or a step away from advancing to the final and even getting on the podium for a medal.

He pointed out how Charisma Taylor just missed making the semifinals in the women’s 100m hurdles and how Chrlton was just shy of two spots of getting on the podium for her first senior global medal in the same event.

The team is managed by Mabelene Miller and assisted by Sharon Gardiner, Sandeep Goud is here as the team’s doctor and Karen Wert is the Therapist/masseuse. Also here as delegates for the congress BAAA’s president Drumeco Archer, John Ingraham and Laura Pratt-Charlton.