The National Sports Commission (NSC) commenced its Annual Independence Table Tennis Tournament yesterday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall with preliminary round matches in the 10 years and under boys’ categories.
The opening games were played following a brief ceremony marking the opening of the tournament. Participants were addressed by Director of Sport, Neil Kumar and officials of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) who expressed best wishes to the participants as they strive to come out on top of the competition.
Treasurer of the GTTA, Joel Wilburg, stated at the opening that the association was pleased with the number of players that registered to take part in the tournament.
He noted that the number of registrant’s so far was on the way to surpassing last year’s total since 190 persons had already registered for the tournament.
Wilburg added that if the trend continues, not only will they be able to have more participants but table tennis will surely progress.
He also acknowledged the support of the NSC for their sponsorship of the event stating that the association was “thankful that they came on board.”
When play commenced yesterday in the boys’ 10 years and under category Jeremy Singh and Amit Mookram battled their way to the final.
Singh easily defeated Rakeem Wright 3-0 (11-3, 11-1, 11-8), while Mookram defeated Khalil Ninvalle after four games 11-7. 7-11, 11-5, 11-3.
Singh and Mookram will clash in the final today followed by the third place playoff between Wright and Ninvalle.
Meanwhile, the eight years and under category saw a poor participant turn out as only one boy registered and will be awarded by the GTTA for being the lone participant.
The girls’ 10 years and under category which was scheduled to be played yesterday will be contested today in the form of a round robin playoff between Neveah Clarkston, Shawana Douglas and Tanasha Corlette.
Also scheduled for today are boys and girls matches in the under 13, 15 and 18 categories.
