Hosts Guyana finished second at the Inter Guyanese Games (IGG) lawn tennis competition behind Suriname who dethroned defending champions French Guiana to win their second title.
The two-day event concluded on Saturday with Suriname in the summit position after claiming 27 victories. Guyana was second with 23 wins and French Guiana in the cellar position with just three wins. Despite the threat of rain on the final day, spectators were thrilled by the performance of the Guyanese girls’ under-14 doubles pair of Afruica Gentle and Shivani Persaud against Suriname. Played at the Bel Air Park Court 2, the Guyanese took the first set comfortably 6-0 but battled closely in the second set to force a tiebreaker which ended in favour of the Suriname pair 7-5. In the deciding super tie breaker, the home team dug deep, cleaned up on their errors and triumphed 10-3 to bursts of applause from the appreciative spectators.
The closing ceremony took place immediately thereafter with the general perception that the level of play of the Guyanese players was exceptionally better than the previous two performances during 2012 in Suriname and 2013 in French Guiana.
Guyanese International Professional Bill Adams, acting as Tournament Referee, who came in for the tournament remarked on the proper organization of the tournament and commended Guyana on this bold step that has really signaled the elevation of the profile of tennis in Guyana. He noted that the spirit of the players were exceptionally professional with little or no disputes, a feature that is not generally distinctive of international tournaments.
Chief Executive Officer of Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry, John Tracey, himself a former executive of the GTA, expressed his delight at the quality of the matches and the unwavering effort of the GTA to produce an international tournament of such high standard for the first time in recent years.
President of the GTA, Grace McCalman who also articulated her satisfaction and excitement at the quality of tennis displayed by the young players, recounted the four critical success factors of the tournament which were the provision of a facility by the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry, the financial support provided by the French and Surinamese Tennis Associations, the local sponsors and the dedication of the executive, coaches, players and parents whom she named. There was specific mention of tennis veteran Harry Panday who also provided his courts for some matches to be played.
After the presentation of the trophies and medals to all team players and coaches, all Guyanese players were given the opportunity to present their favorite player of each visiting team with souvenirs, to loud cheers and applause.
McCalman also presented tournament souvenir cups to Adams for his willingness to leave his academy in Florida to come to Guyana to provide assistance to the GTA, Tracey for his attention to detail in ensuring that his facilities fully support the requirements of the tournament and to National Junior Coach Shelly Daly-Ramdyhan for her passion and commitment to junior development over the years.
All the players in the tournament from the National Junior Squad emanated over the years from the Park Players Club, which is a significant indication of the progress of her program at the club.
The evening closed with a dinner and party for the three teams and officials at the home of newly installed executive member Scheherezade Khan. Also installed recently into the GTA Executive was American William Spangler who is attached to the Georgetown International Academy. Spangler was the Tournament Administrator for the closing matches. Pierre Saint Arroman, French Honorary Consul to Guyana who attended the event, signaled his appreciation for an impressively run tournament and said he hoped that the GTA can take on a tournament of similar caliber and model for senior players.
According to the organisers the hosting of the event was successful notwithstanding the constraints of limited financial resources.
The major sponsors for the tournament were Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry, David Persaud Investments, Sterling Products, Bill Adams International Tennis Academy, Brian Fung & friends while other sponsors were Associated Industries Ltd, Air Services Ltd,704 Food Court, Continental Agencies Ltd, Camex Restaurants Inc., Demerara Distilleries Ltd, Caribbean International Distributors Inc,Park Players Tennis Club, Harry Panday and Rawle Blyden.
The next competition is expected to be held in Suriname.
