Fifteen-year-old junior table tennis star Chelsea Edghill bagged two titles at the Silver Bowl Table Tennis Tournament last Sunday at the Maloney Sport Complex in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T).
Edghill was part of a Guyanese contingent which included other players from Malteenoes table tennis club such as her younger brother Kyle Edghill and Shemar Britton. Other Guyanese players who competed in the tournament included Priscilla Greaves and Neveah Clarkston who placed second in the girls under 15 and under 11 category respectively. Kyle Edghill was also the runner up to T&T’s Aaron Wilson in the boys under 15 finals while Guyanese Miguel Wong was eliminated in the semi finals. Edghill and Britton were both eliminated in the quarter finals of the boys under 18 category by the eventual finalist.
Edghill, leads the list of above mentioned players in the squad for the Caribbean Junior and Cadet championships scheduled for April 2-8 in Trinidad and Tobago. The fourth form Bishops’ High School Student told Stabroek Sport that her recent wins served as a major confidence booster ahead of the tournament.
“These two titles raised my confidence a bit especially since some of the players that I played there will be competing at the Caribbean championships and knowing that I already beat them will definitely make me more confident if we play again,” Edghill said.
Edghill defeated Ashley Quashie in five games (9-11, 11-3, 7-11, 11-6, 11-4) to win the U21 title. Edghill, who also won the women’s singles Silver Bowl senior tournament in December, also overcame Catherine Spicer in straight sets 11-7, 11-6, 15-13 to win the girls under 18 final.
Edghill’s coach Idi Lewis was impressed with his athlete’s performance last weekend and thinks that she is in great form prior to next month’s championships.
“She (Edghill) gave a solid performance all-round. Good serves, good control, she has the total package,” Lewis said.
Lewis said that Egdhill’s serve had improved and she has been utilising it efficiently. With that lethal serve, Lewis said that Edghill could go all the way at the championships this year.
“She is serving great right now so it’s setting up her entire game. Her serve has gotten much better recently and she was able to capitalise on that during the tournament.” Lewis said.
Lewis feels that Edghill should be able to get by players from the English speaking Caribbean easily, but will have to watch of players from Puerto Rico and Santo Domingo who have been campaigning all over the world recently.
Edghill will be debuting in the under 18 category this year but is determined to excel even though she will be one of the youngest competitors. After finishing in second place in the under 15 category last year, Edghill said that she has been training to better than result ever since and eagerly awaits her opportunity next month.
