National player Michelle John played unbeaten to win the under-21 Open singles event of the Stephen Thompson/Netsurf.Com table tennis competition played at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall over the weekend.
John, the lone female in the field of eight that contested the round-robin final proved her superiority over her male counterparts including top junior player Nigel Bryan, whom she defeated 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 in her fourth match of the round-robin.
John, though, had to stave off strong challenges from Ronaldo Bharat and Darwin Walcott who both took her to four sets.
She eventually overcame Bharat 9-11, 11-6, 11-7 and 11-6 and Walcott 11-9, 11-4, 8-11 and 11-3.
Joel Alleyne with a 5-1 record placed second to John whilst Bryan had to settle for the third spot. Warren Hackshaw withdrew from the competition due to illness.
At the brief presentation ceremony which followed, Junior Vice-President of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) Arron Fraser called on the male players to be more dominant in the sport especially in this category.
“I must say that I am appalled at the outcome of this competition where a lone female player completely dominated her male counterparts. I would like to see tennis go back to the days when the males dominate the females in a competition such as this,” said Fraser a former top junior player.
He added:”Congratulations to Ms. Lowe on her achievement so far and best of luck to all the players next time around.,”
Tournament sponsor and Managing Director of Netsurf.com Stephen Thompson, who ranks among the top 20 players in the country, congratulated the organizers for running off the competition and urged all and sundry to support the game as the GTTA intended to take it back to the days when it was one of the household names in the sports field.
