A strong 14 member team was recently selected to represent the defending champions, Guyana in the 2018 Cup of Guianas, formally known as the Inter-Guiana Games (IGG) lawn tennis competition which is set to be hosted in Suriname from October 25-28.
According to Shelly Daly-Ramdyhan, organiser of the recent Guyana Tennis Association/Bakewell Junior Tennis Tournament and one of the two coaches, the team was selected based on a long period of consistent performances by the players.
The other coach is Orande Dainty and the experienced pair will begin their quest to record Guyana’s first tournament win.
Speaking to Stabroek Sport, Daly-Ramdyhan explained that while it would have been better to have more preparation, she is hopeful that what they have done so far is enough to bring the title back home, The coach expressed her satisfaction with the two most senior categories but was a bit cautious with the younger group, which she related, contained the development players who had their training recently and continues to do so.
However, she feels more needs to be done and said that she will do all in her power to bring them up to scratch with the competition.
The team’s most senior division, the Under-18s, will see the powerful Afruica Gentle leading the females alongside Kalyca Fraser, both of whom has had experience in the tournament while the boys will be Heimraj Resaul and Viraj Sharma who are the respective winner and runner up at the Bakewell tournament.
Resaul expressed confidence in the team, noting that all the male players have international experience and know what it is to look out for. He also pledged to play the role of mentor along with Gentle to the younger ones.
“I have a lot of experience representing Guyana no doubt about that and I know Viraj is also quite experienced as well. I will be sharing my experience with the rest of players like a sort of mentor, I guess. All our boys played outside of Guyana already and have some amount of experience and only two of the six girls have no international experience,” Resaul said. While Gentle admitted that she doesn’t know much about the players, from what she has seen she believes that the team can back their strength and lift the title once again.
Meanwhile, U12 boys champion, Hayden Mentore, along with Ricky Romacindo will look for glory in that division while their age counterparts Rashida Hardy and Menikishi Jaikissoon will be competing in the female category.
In the under 14 division, Resaul’s younger brother and also category winner of the junior championship, Vadeanad, will team up with Jeremiah Kalekyezi while Saskia Akilah Jones and Nandanee Ramdhyan will challenge for the title in the female division.
