By Tiadi Blair
Overseas-based racquet wielders Michelle John and Paul David yesterday declared themselves ready to “war” for Guyana’s table tennis.
John, the 2008 Caribbean junior girl’s singles champion arrived in Guyana on Sunday while David, a former Caribbean junior boy’s singles runner-up, arrived in Guyana yesterday morning and was immediately at the national team’s session yesterday afternoon.
Another overseas-based player Sydney Christophe also arrived yesterday.
John and David will spearhead the men’s and women’s teams to the 51st annual Caribbean championships which takes place in French Guiana from July 20-29.
The Guyana teams will be looking to capture the coveted men’s and women’s titles which they have not won in over a decade.
Both players exuded confidence and declared that they have put in a lot of work ahead of the championships and were hoping to reap the fruits of their labour.
Weight training
David told Stabroek Sport that he had been doing a lot of weight training over the past few months during which time he practiced five days a week.
The 33-year-old player was excited over the presence of southpaw Idi Lewis on the team. take a lot of the pressure off of the men to win the team championships,” he said.
David coaches fulltime for afterschool programmes in the US.
And, Lewis, a former Caribbean junior boy’s singles champion, said that he too had been putting in a lot of work over the past few weeks.
“I have not been this fit for a long time,” he declared.
“I think this is the best team, it’s rounded and balanced and has the best players,” he added.
John, who is on a scholarship at Lindenwood University, said she felt prepared for the championship but needed to work on her fluency around the table.
“I feel very confident…I think I’m ready,”she declared.
“I think this year we have Idi on the team and it is going to