The Executive Committee of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) has selected some of the most talented, disciplined and brightest prospects for the future to represent Guyana at the prestigious 2016 Caribbean Pre Cadet Table Tennis Championships, scheduled for August 21-29 at the National Arena, Kingston, Jamaica.
There is only one catch.
The team might not make it to `Jamtown.’
President of the GTTA, Godfrey Munroe, said late last night that the association needed approximately one million dollars more to attend the championships.
According to Munroe, he is hoping that companies, who are good corporate citizens, come to the assistance of the young racquet wielders some of whom are highly tipped to return with medals, including the prized and highly coveted gold medals.
One such player has already tasted gold at the championships.
In 2013, Neveah Clarkston won a gold medal in the Under 11 category at the championships held in Guyana while her teammates Salenas Jackman and Abigale Martin won silver and bronze respectively in the same category.
Another player who is tipped to bring home a gold medal is Kayson Ninvalle.
Ninvalle, a former bronze medallist at the Caribbean cadet Championships in 2013, is the reigning Under 11 and Under 13 National Boys Cadet Champion.
He was also the runner up in the U15 category at this year’s National Championships, a feat unprecedented since the advent of the cadet championships.
Small wonder that Munroe has high hopes that he can strike gold in the Under 11 category.
“Kaysan is a very skilled and experienced player who is immensely talented and who has dominated the domestic tournament calendar,” said Munroe.
“He has the ability to compete in both the under 11 and under 13 categories, a judgement the coaches will make after assessing the competition in Jamaica,” he added.
Ninvalle will spearhead the U13 boys challenge in the team events with support from the talented and experienced Nyron Bissu, the fast-improving Isaiah Layne and debutant Veeshan Deo from Berbice.
The 11 years and under category team will be spearheaded by talented, tenacious and highly skilled Dhanesh Persaud, the technical and all-round game of Colin Wong, Krystian Sahadeo, a 2015 US Open bronze medalist and Alexander De Abreu.
On the distaff side Clarkston and Martin will receive support from the young and emerging talent of Thuraia Thomas.
The team, which has been training twice daily at the National Gymnasium, will compete in the boys and girls team events, singles, doubles and mixed doubles.
The team has been undergoing training under coaches Linden Johnson, Dwain Dick and Xenophon Goliath utilizing a structured and rigid training programme aimed at having them perform optimally at this tournament, Munroe told Stabroek Sport. Countries such as Puerto Rico, Barbados, Aruba, Jamaica, St Lucia Trinidad and Tobago, Dominican Republic and French Guiana are expected to participate at the championships.
The National Table Tennis delegation selected for the 2016 Caribbean Pre Cadet Table Tennis Championships from August 21-29 in Jamaica reads:- Dhanesh Persaud, Colin Wong, Krsytian Sahadeo, and Alexander De Abreu, (Under 11 boys); Kaysan Ninvalle, Isaiah Layne, Nyron Bissu and Veeshan Deo (Under 13 boys) Thuraia Thomas (Under 11 girls) and Neveah Clarkston, Abigale Martin (Under13 girls).
The coaches are Linden Johnson and Dwain Dick with Daniel Thomas as Manager/Delegate and Dawn Chung Layne as Chaperone/Manager.
The team is set to leave Sunday.
