But this time around it’s not going to be as easy for Munroe as he works at sharpening his skills in order to defend his title at the 2010 National Championships that will begin this weekend at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH).
According to Munroe, he will have to challenge himself this time around, having been inactive in the game since he carved out the title two years ago.
“It’ll be a matter of me challenging myself to see how deep I can go, more than anything that’s how this week’s training is – a challenge. I’ll know just how ready I am until about next week,” Munroe said.
In February of 2008, Munroe had mowed down seven adversaries to make his way to his second national men’s singles, with the 2001 title already under his belt.
Munroe recalled that at that time he played in the tournament to present a challenge for the other participants, however this time around he’ll definitely be the one being challenged.
“Last time I played it was basically to add some credence to the tournament and to test the guys, and at that time I was working out and doing a lot of cross training and it was an easy transition into training for the competition, but this time the scenario will be different. My scenario will be that I have not been working out as much as before so physically I’m not prepared like before,” Munroe acknowledged.
Munroe also indicated that he expects a strong challenge from the men’s line-up, which is expected to include the likes of Christopher Franklin, as well as Paul David and the Belle brothers Brandon and Brad, coming from the US.
“The guys will be competitive because they had a lot of international experience leading up to this competition. You have some of them who went to the CAC (Central American and Caribbean) Games and the Commonwealth Games,” Munroe said.
“All the guys are playing at a higher level, and I just started trying to get ready about a week ago. I now have to try and bridge that gap, I got to try and make up because I haven’t been playing as much as the other guys. So for the last week I’ve been practicing as much as possible, I put in about 3 – 4 hours a day,” he added.
Munroe has been practising in the afternoons at the CASH, where Stabroek Sport caught up with him yesterday.
In addition to participating in the singles competition, Munroe said he may be competing in the doubles and/or mixed doubles, though he is yet to decide upon a partner.
Munroe noted that he feels the time has come for him to leave the paddle wielding to the next generation of table tennis players. Munroe, who is also Secretary of the Guyana Table Tennis Association, said that right now his role in table tennis is to ensure its development and all that is left is for him to pass on whatever knowledge he has to the upcoming generation.
“I’m holding a lot of roles now, and a lot of times when you have the international competitions I’ll be grappling with putting things in place to get the teams to the competitions. A lot of people would say why I didn’t go to represent Guyana but I would have had a fair amount of time so I’m giving them [the younger players] the opportunity now. It’s just for me to pass on that knowledge,” Munroe said.
The championships are expected to commence this weekend, starting off with the junior segment while the seniors will begin vying for their titles from the following Saturday, December 11.
The best of Guyana’s table tennis players are expected to be on display. For the females, Trenace Lowe is expected to travel home from the US. However the participation of the defending female champion Michelle John is still tentative, as is the attendance of men’s national player Idi Lewis, both of whom are currently in the US.
