By Donald Duff
I had never seen him play but had heard and read about him. I did not even know that he still lived in Guyana. And then there he was, the man whom Charles J. Chichester once wrote “laid claim to being the greatest junior player the Caribbean has ever produced.”
One afternoon whilst at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall two gentlemen came to the table tennis sessions which get underway from about 3pm or thereabouts. Upon making enquiries I learnt that the two were Sammy Boodhoo, a former leg spinner who was called to trials for the national senior team and, Balkissoon.
Former head of the Caribbean Broadcast Union (CBC) and current Deputy General Manager of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company Limited (GT&T) Terry Holder has repeatedly urged me never to pass up such opportunities.
I could not let this one pass. I approached Balkissoon and requested an interview. He readily agreed.
For those table tennis players who do not know the history of the game they play with much zeal, Balkissoon, will forever be remembered for a unique feat which is somewhat of a record and which still stands today.
In 1967 at the annual Caribbean championships in Jamaica, Balkissoon, (only name) won the junior boy’s singles title and reached the finals of the men’s singles losing to the great Jamaican Orville Haslam.
Staggering achievement
“Jamaica brought Haslam from England as a professional. He lived in England and played professional table tennis,” recalls Balkissoon.
He added: “If that man didn’t come I would have been the number one player,” was his opinion.
On the way to the men’s singles final Balkissoon took out defending men’s singles champion Leo Davis of Jamaica in the quarter-finals and Guyana’s national champion Mike Baptiste in the semi-finals.
Asked how he felt about losing to Haslam, Balkissoon said: “Well, I didn’t feel anyway. Haslam was a pro and I was just a junior player.”
A minor triumph was that he scored the most points against Haslam.
“He was beating everyone at 2 and 3,” he said adding,”he had the loop. It was the first time the loop shot had ever been introduced in Caribbean table tennis.”
Put in its proper context it was a staggering achievement. In fact only one other player has managed to reach the finals of the boy’s and men’s singles at the regional level and that player is Trinidadian Mansingh Amarsingh. However, Amarsingh lost both finals, beaten by Trevor Manning of Barbados in the junior final and by Barbados number one Tony Byer in the men’s final.
Balkissoon won the junior title that year by beating ironically another Guyanese in the final, Bruce Edwards in straight games.
Edwards was later to go on and win the men’s singles and now lives in Canada.
Born in Ogle, Balkissson started playing the game on “an old wood table with a cup in the centre for a net.”
They played at the old Community Centre and Balkissoon recalls being allowed to play only in the bottom half of the facility since the top half was reserved for the senior players.
Businessman Yadram Rajcoomar recalls that at the time sports at the sugar estates came under the supervision of former International Cricket Council chairman the late Sir Clyde Walcott.
Among the players at the Ogle Community Centre in those days were Ashraf Alli, Wilfred Dey, Albert Smith and Adele Karim who was later a member of the Guyana national women’s team.
With John Bart as Welfare Officer and Burchfield Moore as Industrial Welfare Officer sports on the sugar estates thrived and Balkissoon soon began participating in the sugar estates championships among Skeldon, Albion, Rose Hall and Blairmont. It was here that Balkissoon was to play against former West Indies cricket captain Alvin Kallicharran and Anand Sookram.
He won the junior and senior titles at the sugar estates championships before going on to play the national championships in 1967.
Becoming the first junior champion to win a Caribbean title for Guyana shot Balkissoon to prominence in the sporting world and his reward was to be voted runner up Sportsman-of-the Year to Roy Fredericks, he recalled.
Beating Bergman
In 1966-67 Balkissoon beat Richard Bergman, a former four-time World champion in an exhibition game at the Queen’s College auditorium.
Balkissoon said he was the only Guyanese player to win a game against the World champion who also toured Trinidad and Tobago and other Caribbean countries.
According to Balkisson he had a stint under Chinese coach Chou Lin Chen.
But Balkissoon was soon to quit the sport.
Upon entering the field of work Balkissoon was faced with a tough decision.
“I had to choose between table tennis and my job,” he said.
He eventually became a licensed aircraft engineer.
Today Balkissoon still enjoys playing the game which made him famous.
“My love for table tennis is still there and I want to do some coaching at the Ogle Community centre in an effort to give something back,” he says.
These days Balkissoon spends his afternoons playing with friends such as Dr Benjamin Singh, Rajcoomar, Boodhoo and Alli.
He will be in action though on Monday at a specially arranged veterans’ tournament sponsored by Commissioner of Police Henry Greene at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Who knows, maybe the man from Ogle can rewrite the record books once again.
