PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Guyana’s Nigel Bryan emerged winner of the Cecil James Memorial Under-18 Open Junior tournament on Saturday at the Maloney Indoor Sport Arena.
In the championship match, the Guyanese ping-pong star outlasted Orell Cooper in five sets, 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-13, 11-3.
Earlier in the semi-finals, Bryan was taken to five sets by Trinidad’s Arun Roopnarine before he prevailed 11-13, 4-11, 11-6, 13-11, 11-9 while Cooper got the better of another Trinidadian Meshach Pillai 9-11, 4-11, 11-6, 13-11, 11-9 to reach the Final.
Yesterday, Barbadian Kevin Farley and Guyana’s Colin France were heading the list of challengers for the Open title.
Farley is a former Caribbean men’s singles champion, and France, a former three-time Guyana national men’s singles champion.