Nevaeh Clarkston dominated the girls division, sealing junior titles in the Under-15 and U18 categories while Jonathan Van Lange played out of his boots to snatch the title boys U13 title from Kaysan Ninvalle.
However, Ninvalle would take the spoils in the U15 division while Nickolus Romain won the U18 title as the curtain came down on the Guyana Table Tennis Association’s National Junior Table Tennis Championships at the National Gymnasium last night.
Battling the fearsome competition, Clarkston made light work of U13 champion, Thuraia Thomas who fell in three straight games (11-2, 11-7, and 11-5) in a splendid display of dominance.
Clarkston would then set her sights on the U18 title against Thomas once again who produced a better showing but nevertheless suffered the same fortune, going down 11-8, 11-6, 13-11.
Over in the boys’ division, Van Lange stepped up his game and capitalized on a less than 100% Ninvalle to seal the title in the U13 category with a 3-2 win.
Van Lange raced to a 4-0 lead in the first set and held his nerve as Ninvalle fought his way back but could never recover in the set, losing 11-9 while the second set saw Van Lange going up two games to love and in sight of the victory after recovering from 2-5 to win 14-12.
The 11-year-old student said it was good to come out on top of the category after he finished joint third in the U15 and U18 categories.
Ninvalle found his groove in the third and fourth sets, marking his territory with 5-11 and 10-12 wins, even forcing 11-year-old Van Lange out of his boots in the heated contest.
The fifth set was equally balanced as the two youngsters traded point for point despite Ninvalle’s early lead. Ninvalle seemed to have it in the bag at 8-3 but the spirit of Van Lange coupled with a draining day for Ninvalle saw the former winning 11-9 in a comeback for the history books.
Ninvalle would not walk away empty handed, having moved over to the U15 category where he defeated Niran Bissu 3-2 in the most exciting clash of the night that saw spectators and team members getting into a cheerleading battle on the sidelines.
Ninvalle took the early lead winning the first two sets (11-7,13-11) but Bissu rallied by the support of his Titans’ teammates recovered well to win the next two sets (6-11, 8-11) but buckled with the big match pressure, folding the last bout 11-4 in a crowd silencing display from Ninvalle.
Capping off a night of high quality competition, Romain disposed of Jamaal Nicholas 3-1 (11-5, 11-7 8-11, and 11-4) to secure his spot at the top of the U18 category.
Romain at the end of the contest said it was a special win for him, having trained only two days prior to the tournament as he sat the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate recently.
