Edinho Lewis completed a deserving 4-2 victory over reigning national men’s singles table tennis champion Nigel Bryan while Chelsea Edghill edged Natalie Cummings in a five set thriller on Sunday during the finals of the Guyana Table Tennis Association/National Sports Commission Mashramani tournament at the National Gymnasium.
Lewis won the men’s singles title while Edghill, who was recently named junior sportswoman of the year for the second time, took the women’s title.
Paul Meusa and Jodie Ann Blake were the respective winners last year but neither competed in this year’s edition.
This time around, Bryan seemed on top of his game after emphatically stroking his way to the Under-21 Open singles title at this tournament for the second straight year. Bryan overpowered Edghill in four straight games (11-8, 11-5, 11-6, 14-12). The 20-year old former junior Caribbean U-15 champion continued his dominance in the men’s draw and in a repeat of the U21 semi-final Bryan reproduced a 3-0 victory against Mashramani U18 and U15 champion Shemar Britton to advance to the men’s final.
In the final, Bryan brandished his A-game but even that was not enough to get past Lewis. The new Mash champ withstood all Bryan’s firepower to take the first set 14-12. Bryan fought back and won the next two games (11-7, 11-6) but even in the face of pressure and adversity, Lewis kept fighting back. Lewis overcame the 2-1 deficit in sets and stole the momentum of the match with a resounding 11-4 equalising win of the fourth set. Lewis then wrapped things up with back-to-back wins in the fifth and sixth sets (11-8, 11-8) to stop Bryan from winning his second title of the tournament.
Edghill
stops Cummings
The gripping women’s Open final between Cummings and Edghill was like a rollercoaster ride. That encounter saw several lead changes and the final set went to deuce before Edghill was finally able to dramatically pull two clear points ahead(17-15).
Cummings was on the brink of defeating Edghill but the formidable young talent refused to be a runner up. Cummings had match point advantage more than thrice in the final set before Edghill stole the win.
Cummings had battled back into the game after losing the first set to Edghill 14-12 and with the national coach Linden Johnson on her side, she seemed poised to pull off the come-from-behind upset against the 15-year old. Edghill’s strokes were not as consistent as in the early rounds of the tournament.
Never-the-less the Bishops’ High School student played reserved for the most part with just enough confidence to get through each set.
Apart from winning the women’s singles, Edghill also won the girls 18 and under title and finished runner up title Bryan in the Open Under 21 category. Edghill, had not lost a set before she met Bryan in the finals of the Under 21 title defeating players such as Brad Belle and Scott Garraway.
