TT teams return empty handed
Stabroek News
July 18, 2002
Guyana teams participating at the junior Pan Am Games and the annual US Open table tennis championships came away empty handed but gained valuable exposure manager/coach Sydney Christophe reported yesterday.
Despite the fact that the teams failed to place among the medals Christophe said the players accredited themselves well. He added that the exposure will serve them well in upcoming championships.
Following the June 26-28 junior Pan Am games the players participated in a training camp from June 29-July 1.
This was followed by the US Open from July 4-8. All the tournaments were staged at the Fort Lauderdale Convention centre.
Speaking of the men's team's performance in the under 22 years of age category Christophe said.. "The team played well and the players received tremendous exposure by playing against the top players from Brazil and the United States."
The men's team comprised Paul Meusa, Jonathan Sankar, Orin Hickerson, Raymond Baksh and Christopher Franklyn while the women's team comprised Jody Ann Blake, Michelle John and La Toya Howes.
Christophe said at the championships, emphasis was placed on exposure of players with one of the rules of the competition being that all the players had to be exposed.
He said the standard was very high with Canada, Brazil and the USA being the stronger teams. He, however, feels that the local players are not far behind and urges regular participation in such tournaments.
Christophe said the players benefited from the camp where the boys and girls each trained for five hours every day.
Christophe disclosed that he was one of the coaches at the camp and spent some 10 hours every day training the players along with the other coaches.
The players now have their eyes fixed on the South American juniors in Brazil and the junior Caribbean TT championships in Puerto Rico.
"There is a long road ahead but I think we can make Guyana proud at this level," he said. Guyana placed 9th in the men's 22 years and under team event, while the women's team placed seventh and the under-16 boys team sixth.
Christophe said he would like to thank all those who assisted the team including the Minister responsible for Sport, the Ministry of Finance, North American Airlines, Bounty Farms and Bank of Guyana.