A visiting Barbadian club team comprising of cadet players at the beginners and intermediate levels was engaged in the National Sports Commission “Teach Them Young” table tennis developmental programme from August 8-15.
The tournament which concluded on Wednesday at the National Gymnasium was conducted by national coach Linden Johnson and ITTF level one coach Gavin Lowe.
Earlier in the programme Director of Sports Neil Kumar welcomed the Barbadian team and urged them to have fun while learning new skills and making new friends.
He noted that such table tennis programmes have produced Caribbean champions. He also made reference to the recently concluded Pre-cadet Championships in Jamaica when Guyana came out on top with five gold medals, four silver, and 10 bronze.
He noted that the programme has been valuable to the development of table tennis as many players have seen a rise in their confidence and holistic development.
At the conclusion of the programme, the Guyanese and Barbadian players were engaged in a Goodwill tournament.
The team events attracted six teams.
In the 13-years-and-under category and host Guyana team “A” defeated the visiting team 5 games to 4.
In the 13-years-and-under category, the host’s team “B” defeated the visiting team scoring again 5 games to 4.
And in the 15-years-and-under category Guyana defeated Barbados in the last and final match 5-4.
The singles events attracted 36 players from Guyana and Barbados in the nine-and-under category and also in the open matches.
In the nine-years-and-under open Barbadian Dasha Murphy defeated Jadyn George (Guy) 3-0, while a joint third place was awarded to Omari Hazlewood (Guy) and Roy Cort (USA)
In the open category, Guyanese Emmanuel Major defeated Barbadian Donavan Griffith 3-0 and joint third place went to Christopher London (Guy) and Matthew Wilson (Guy).
Trophies and medals were donated by the National Sports Commission.
