GTTA's 12th place finish at Commonwealth Games was high point of year
Sport Year-In-Review
Stabroek News
December 27, 2006
The Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) men's team 12th placed finish at this year's Commonwealth Games in Australia could be considered the high-point of the year for local racquet wielders.
The team of overseas-based Paul David, Idi Lewis, Godfrey Munroe and Matthew Khan did extremely well in the tough competition and at the end of the Games the Guyana team's world ranking climbed to 84th from its previous 108th.
The year began with a National Sports Commission (NSC)/Ministry of Education beginner's table tennis coaching programme for secondary schools while a coaching programme in January attracted over 150 students from ten of thirty schools that were invited to participate in the six-week programme as the GTTA placed much-needed emphasis on training.
The NSC's annual Mashramani Table Tennis tournament was held at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall in February. Over 180 players from schools and local clubs in Linden and Berbice took part in the event which was declared open by Director of Sports Neil Kumar. Kumar charged the GTTA to stage its national table tennis championships while stating his willingness to provide the sponsorship for the national table tennis tourney.
Mae's Secondary School player Trenace Lowe was the most outstanding female player in the competition with six titles while Alleyne's High School's Joel Alleyne, Christopher Franklin and Elishaba Johnson won two titles each in the male categories.
Connie Chung and Devon Richmond got the most improved players trophies while Johnson was the youngest player in the tournament.
Kumar assisted the GTTA in the presentation of balls, racquets and coaching manuals to the Bagotsville Youth Club, West Demerara and the Suddie Junior Police Club on the Essequibo Coast as part of the GTTA's outreach programme.
In March, the GTTA was tasked with the preparation of its senior and cadet players for two international engagements in Melbourne, Australia and in Asuncion, Paraguay. During the same month the NSC in collaboration with the GTTA held a Novices Table Tennis Tournament at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall to help spread the game and to scout talent.
Abdul Rahim Godwah and Renuka Seepersaud of the Institute of Business Education (IBE) won the male and female categories.
Godwah defeated Sineon Lovell of New Campbellsville Secondary 15-13, 11-6 to win 2-0 in the male final while in the female final Seepersaud went past Rea Burnette of Brickdam Secondary 11-6 and 11-8 to claim victory.
The tournament attracted some 102 participants from East Coast Demerara, West Demerara, East Bank Demerara and Georgetown and Kumar commended national coach Linden Johnson for running off the tournament.
The GTTA sanctioned the Caribbean Customs Table Tennis Tournament held at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall in April, which saw participation from four Carib-bean countries.
Guyana defeated Trinidad & Tobago 3-0 in the final to win the tournament. In the first round Guyana defeated British Virgin Islands 3-0 while Trinidad & Tobago defeated Turks and Caicos 3-1. British Virgin Islands shared third place honours with Turks and Caicos.
The NSC/GTTA hosted a table tennis tournament sponsored by United States-based Guyanese Hugh Barton. Franklin won the men's singles title while Jody Ann Blake won the women's singles title.
Other good performances came from 50 years-and-over title winner Cardo Williams; 35 and 40 years-and-over winner Colin France; 18-years-and-under boys' champion Orlando McEwan; 18-years-and-under girls' winner Trenace Lowe; 15-years-and-under boys' champion Nigel Bryan; 15-years-and-under girls' winner Trenace Lowe; 13-years-and-under boys' winner Nigel Brian; 13-years-and-under girls winner Saskeia Chung and nine-years-and-under boys champion Jamaal Duff.
The annual NSC 40th Independence Table Tennis tournament was held at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall in May and Franklin and Trenace Lowe again copped the top male and female titles.
Lowe won five titles while Franklin and France won three each. Jody Ann Blake and Elishaba Johnson won two titles each. The most improved players were Nigel Bryan and Ambrose Thomas.
The event was also in honour of Chinese table tennis coach Zhou Ping who departed Guyana on June 2nd after completing his second one-year stint in Guyana.
NSC Chairman Conrad Plummer said that developing countries like Guyana could emulate developed countries like China. Chinese Ambassador to Guyana Shen Qing encouraged the local table tennis players to focus on the 2008 Olympic Games that will be held in Beijing, China.
A farewell dinner was held for Ping at the New Thriving Restaurant in Barr Street, Kitty. A token of appreciation in the form of three crystal plaques was presented to Ping by Dr. Jennifer Westford on behalf of the Government of Guyana.
The GTTA prepared for the Central American Games (CAC) in Colombia and the Caribbean and Central American Junior Table Tennis Championship in Puerto Rico scheduled for August.
Paul David, Idi Lewis, Anson Bispham and Christopher Franklin were the players who participated in the CAC Games in Cartagena, Colombia. The team played well although they failed to advance to the second round of the team event after losses against the strong Guatemala and Venezuelan teams and a lone win against St Vincent and the Grenadines.
In the men singles, both Idi Lewis and overseas-based Paul David found their form advancing to the round of 32 while both the men's doubles combinations of Lewis/David and Franklin/Bispham reached the round of 32.
The NSC's "Teach Them Young" table tennis training programme began in July and attracted approximately sixty participants under age 15 years. The programme ran until the end of August.
A novice's tournament was held by the GTTA for the "Teach Them Young" participants along with a Cadet and Junior Open tournament sponsored by P&P Insurance Brokers, Consultant and Travel Agency.
The Caribbean and Central American Junior Table Tennis Championship in Puerto Rico scheduled from 25th August to 3rd September 2006 was postponed because of venue problems in the host country.
A decision was taken by the GTTA and other Caribbean table tennis bodies to include the junior table tennis championships in the programme of the inaugural cadet and mini-cadet tournament in Trinidad in November where Guyana gained some 12 medals including gold in the girls Under-18 singles through Michelle John and the girls Under-15 singles through Trenace Lowe.
The NSC/GTTA/Ministry of Education coaching programme for primary school students was held in October. The GTTA sponsored doubles table tennis tournament was held in late October and attracted over 40 players.
Table Tennis was revitalized on the Essequibo Coast when the Suddie Junior Sports Club held an open table tennis tournament at the PSU Sports Club in Suddie late November.
The tournament was sponsored by Universal Pharmacy of Suddie and was open to all junior and senior players on the Essequibo Coast. Area coach Brian Duncan was the coordinator.
Local racquet queen Trenace Lowe, Marlon Joseph and Matthew Khan participated in the North American Teams Championships in Baltimore, USA along with overseas-based Guyanese Paul David, Sydney Christophe, Anson Bispham, Shawn Embleton, Orlando McEwan and Kelvin Duesbury.
David, Christophe and Bishpham played well in the team events especially David who came into his own late in the tournament after an indifferent start and Christophe, the former Caribbean men's singles champion who rediscovered his best form.
The GTTA selected senior table tennis player Dwain Dick to represent Guyana as one of the international players playing in the French Guiana Table Tennis League in French Guiana.
In December, top mini cadet, cadet and junior teams travelled to Trinidad and Tobago to participate in the Caribbean and Central American mini cadet and cadet championships and the junior goodwill championships.
The countries that participated in the tournament in Trinidad included Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, St Lucia, St Vincent and Curacao.
The Guyana team won six gold, four silver and four bronze medals on their way to a joint second place finish with Jamaica in the seven-country event.
Idi Lewis ended the year in table tennis with a second place finish at the Super Six tournament in Trinidad.
Two blemishes on the association's calender was in its failure to hold the annual general meeting which was postponed and the non-staging of the national championships.