Young players' performance at Trinidad table tennis tourney augers well for future
By Lloyda Nicholas
Stabroek News
December 13, 2006
The team and officials that represented Guyana at the Caribbean Table Tennis Federation (CRTTF) Cadet Championships in Trinidad and Tobago winning 12 medals and placing third after they returned to Guyana. (Lawrence Fanfair)
The Guyana team registered a strong all round performance, winning 13 medals at the three-day Caribbean Table Tennis Federation (CRTTF) Cadet Championships in Trinidad and Tobago last weekend with female juniors dominating the competition.
Coach Linden Johnson described the team's overall performance as excellent.
The Guyana team won six gold medals, four silver medals and three bronze medals on the way to a third-place finish in the seven country event.
"I was satisfied and their performance showed that table tennis is still up there, especially in the younger categories," Johnson told Stabroek Sport yesterday shortly after the team returned from the twin-island republic.
In the boys under 10 or mini-cadets team category Guyana carted away the silver medal. The team, Jamaal Duff, Elishaba Johnson and Kyle Edghill were defeated in the final against Trinidad and Tobago who won the gold. The girls under 10 had a similar fate adding another silver to the Guyana tally after losing to the home side. Chelsea Edghill, Analisa Branche and Shanyce McAlmont were on that under 10 team.
The under-13 boys, Samuel Fraser, Stephan Patoir and Denzel Duff registered with a bronze medal but the girls were forced to withdraw since a misunderstanding of the regulations led to the illegal entry of Ambrose Thomas in two cadet categories, the under 13 and under 15.
However, the under 15 team with Trenace Lowe, Thomas and Adielle Rosheuvel dominated that level and won gold. The under 15 boys, Nigel Bryan, Ronaldo Bharrat and Bryan Duncan had a strong showing and finished with the silver medal.
In the Goodwill juniors/under 18 girls category, Caribbean powerhouses, Trenace Lowe and Michelle John along with Natalie Cummings took the top spot adding to Guyana's gold medal tally. However, the male under-18 Guyana team failed to medal despite a good show.
In the individual competitions, Jamaal Duff and McAlmont took the male and female bronze medals respectively in the under-10 category while Bryan struck gold in the under-13 level and Lowe lived up to the hype winning the under-15 girls' gold medal which she had promised she would win.
However, Michelle John showed why the John/Lowe rivalry is still alive and strong when she beat her Guyanese counterpart to win the Under-18 individual title. Lowe, who led by two games to nil before John roared back to take the next three took the silver in a match up which according to Deidre Edghill, mother of Kyle and Chelsea and who accompanied the team, kept the spectators entranced as the two players battled neck and neck before John prevailed in the end. Bryan came in for high praise after winning the under-13 title and putting in a strong showing in the under-18 category, making it as far as the quarter-finals.
Coach Johnson also praised the younger members of the team and said, "Personally, I feel we will dominate Caribbean table tennis and do well in Latin America within the next two year."
Guyana finished third in terms of the number of medals behind Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. The other countries in the competition were Barbados, Curacao, St. Lucia and St. Vincent.
Team manager Joel Wilburg praised the team's performance noting the expected brilliant performances from Lowe and John and the strong showing by the younger players. He mentioned Bharrat and Bryan as two of the strong upcoming players that were competitive against players that were older than themselves.
However, he said that the tournament revealed that there is a need for more tournaments with a similar number of games over a three day period so that players could become accustomed to that amount of tennis. He noted that by the third day of the competition many of the Guyanese players were tired.
Wilburg praised the support received from the parents (many of whom travelled with the team) who made Guyana's participation possible.
Other notable sponsors were the National Sports Commission, BWIA, Harold Hopkinson, Bish Panday and Sons, Audrey Monderson, DOCOL, former Caribbean men's singles champion George Braithwaite and the Ephesus Seventh Day Adventist Church.