Young table tennis stars Isaiah Layne and Terrence Rausch were outstanding last month in the United States of America (USA) winning several tournaments as part of a Developmental Tour sanctioned by the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA).
The young racquet wielders, comprising the next generation of table tennis stars, participated at tournaments in Westchester and Flushing, New York.
Layne and Niron Bissu also underwent training at the Lily Yip Table Tennis Centre in Dunellen, New Jersey.
Layne captured two first places at the Westchester Open on December 29 winning the U1600 and the U1450 categories.
He also won the Under 1350 category at the American Asian Cultural Centre of Tribeca (AACCT) tournament at the Chinese Association Hall in Flushing, Queens in December and was second in the Under 1550.
Not to be outdone Rausch won the U1550 and the U1750 categories at the AACCT tournament.
In fact, the Guyanese dominated the U1550 category sweeping the top three places with Rausch defeating Layne in the final after Layne had gotten the better of
Vincente Henery placed third in 1550, after losing to Layne in the semi-finals of the Under1550 category at the AACCT tournament.
Niron Bissu, who arrived late, was only able to play one tournament, the Under 2350 AACCT tournament and lost in the group while Jamaal Nicholas placed third in the Under2350 doubles.
Another player Sheldon Atherley placed third in the Under 1950 and fourth in the Under 2100 at the AACCT tournament. Later, Layne and Bissu participated in the Lily Yip Table Tennis Camp in Dunellen, New Jersey with Layne spending two weeks and Bissu, one week.
There they benefited from the expertise of Yip the 2014 US national Coach of the Year, whose prowess at doing the multi ball drills is legendary.
“I learnt new strokes, developed new techniques,” said Layne of his stint at the Lily Yip Table tennis centre.
Layne said at the end of the camp the participants were involved in a ratings tournament where he placed third in the first week.
Bissu asked how the camp was said it was great. “I too learnt new techniques and developed new skills,” he said.
Mikey Layne, former national footballer and father of Isaiah Layne said that lily Yip was impressed with the services of Isaiah and practiced returning his serves a lot as part of her preparation for an Over 50 tournament in Las Vegas. The players also benefited from a training stint with former national player Wayne Gaskin at the Brownsville Table Tennis Club.
Layne said the players have been invited to participate in the US Open tournament this year from December 17-22.
