Fifteen-year-old table tennis star Nigel Bryan continued from where he left off last year to snatch two divisional titles in the Guyana Table Tennis Association/National Sports Commission junior tournament sponsored by the West Indies sports complex which ended yesterday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Bryan, who created a storm in the table tennis arena last year, began this year on a successful note by placing third in the Paul David Open handicap tournament.
He returned yesterday to completely dominate the competition in his age group as well as in the group above him, recording virtually unchallenged victories in the boys’ 15-years-and-under as well as the boys’ 18-years-and-under categories.
Bryan defeated Denzil Hopkinson in the 15-years-and-under final with Denzel Duff third and then returned minutes later to stun Darwin Walcott in the 18-years-and-under final. Such quality performances were enough to earn Bryan the award for most outstanding male player of the tournament.
Chelsea Edghill also scored wins in the girls’ 11-years-and-under and 13-years- and-under categories while settling for second place to Ambrose Thomas in the girls’ 15-years-and-under category.
Her superb play in three different age categories, all of which she proved to be a superior contender in, earned her the most outstanding female player of the tournament.
In the always anticipated 18-years-and-under dual between two of the region’s best female players Trenace Lowe and Michelle John, John held her composure to pull off a close 3-2 victory after the pair utilized the full five sets. John prevailed 11-8 in the fifth.
Eight-year-old Elishaba Johnson defeated Kyle Edghill to capture the boys’ nine- and under title while Tiara Narine defeated Annalisa Branch to claim the girls’ nine-years-and-under title.
Johnson also reached the finals of the boys’ 11-years-and-under category losing to Jamaal Duff in a nail-biting encounter also over five games.
The boys’13-years-and under title was won by Samuel Fraser who defeated Denzel Duff.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony expressed his delight at the exceedingly high level of talent displayed in the tournament, but said that he was sure that if the sport were developed throughout the country it could lead to many more talented players being discovered.
“One of the things that we want to do is to popularize table tennis, since it is usually a Georgetown centred game. We want to reach to other parts of the country and to have more and more players which gives us the opportunity to discover players competent enough to represent Guyana at the national level,” he said.
He also expressed his confidence in Chinese national Coach, Cheng Jian Hua, who arrived in the country last Saturday, and suggested that the merging of the two different styles of play would be very beneficial for the local players.
