Despite her successful career in table tennis, top racket wielder Trenace Lowe is one of the many local sportspersons who are affected by the lack of sponsorship.
Lowe told Stabroek Sport that a lack of sponsorship was the underlying factor that hindered her performance in the Latin American games in Paraguay last year.
Lowe said her equipment was usually very expensive and her trips overseas for tournaments cost roughly around US$1,500, which includes hotel accommodation and food. her table tennis equipment is usually bought by her mother and uncle, she added.
Despite their love for the sport, most table tennis players find purchasing rubbers and other table tennis equipment very costly and Lowe is no exception.
A table tennis racquet can cost over US$100.
Lowe noted that she sometimes gets financial aid from her close friends and loved ones in order to participate in overseas tournaments.
Lowe, a southpaw, said that she trains five days a week for two hours each day, and this helps her to perform at her best.
Lowe will be competing in the under-18 and 21 women’s singles, the girls’ and women’s doubles, the junior and senior mixed doubles and the `B’ and `C’ class categories of the Mashramani Table Tennis tournament which started Monday.
She expressed confidence that she is capable of winning the under-21 singles at the Mash tourney effectively throwing down the gauntlet to not only the top junior male players in Joel Alleyne, Reshon Hadmon, Devon Richmond, Tristan Gaime and Nigel Bryan but also arch-rival Michelle John.
Lowe is the NSC’s Junior Sportswoman-of-the-Year for 2006.
“I felt good winning the Sportswoman-of-the-Year award for 2006 because I worked hard and I am looking forward to winning it again this year,” Lowe told Stabroek Sport in a recent interview.
Lowe began playing table tennis at the age of seven but her career kicked off when she won a women’s singles tournament in 2003 at the age of 12. She also got third place in a local women’s singles tournament in 1999 at the age of eight.
She went to the US open in July of 2000 where she participated in the 1400 and 1750 male and female categories, winning all six of her matches.
She then went on to participate in an under 2000 team tournament in New Jersey, USA where her team copped first place. She also took part in the under-17 category at the Bronxville tour in July 2006.
Lowe competed in the Cuba-Latin American qualifying games and, in the under-13 doubles she teamed up with Michelle John to place second, losing to the Cubans.
The Guyana girls’ team also got a silver medal at those championships.
Other achievements include her win in the under-15 cadet Caribbean tournament in December last year and the under-15 cadet Caribbean tour in Venezuela 2006 and 2004 respectively.
The 15-year-old TT player said that she was the first female to win the under-21 title in a local Mashramani tournament. The holder of a US ranking, Lowe played in the under 1400 and 1750 category on the team that went to Baltimore in November 2006 and her performance has led to a rise in her ranking. Lowe currently plays for her school and is a member of the national girls and women’s teams.
