Mental preparation and exposure to higher levels of training and competition were the reasons given by coach Linden Johnson for Guyana finishing third at the recently concluded Cadets and Under-13 table tennis tournament in the Dominican Republic.
This was said during a press briefing yesterday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH).
Guyana finished third overall behind Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico while the local under-13 boys copped the bronze medal in the team competition. The girls on the other hand came away empty handed and technical deficiencies were the main reasons for this according to Johnson.
That apart, Johnson said that the Guyanese players are not far off talent wise but the advantage the other top ranked teams have are that they have better financed programmes run by the government and exposure to high level training in China and Sweden.
“…We need to be more mentally prepared and we need to play more tournaments to get the exposure. Coaches and officials will look to see if more tournaments can be played,” Johnson stated.
Former national junior player, Lisa Lewis, who also accompanied the team, said that Guyana placed the highest among the English-speaking Caribbean nations.
She also repeated the sentiments expressed by Johnson that more exposure for the nation’s top players was necessary. She highlighted the fact that the top countries’ table tennis infrastructure, serves as an academy to teach the game.
She also pointed out that the facilities cater for players to reside there while focus is also placed on their academics at the academy. Despite the better facilities by the other countries, though, Guyana was still able to compete and this, Lewis said, captured the attention of many.
Lewis said that specific recommendations will be made to have some system be put in place to improve the local players preparation for international tournaments.
