Guyana’s senior national table tennis players, after a notable showing at the 61st Caribbean Regional Table Tennis Federation (CRTTF) senior championships, qualified for the 2019 ITTF Pan American Champions which began in Paraguay yesterday and runs until September 8
However, the national men’s team will not be participating at the high-level tennis championships.
Guyana, according to the Pan American Table Tennis Confederation, booked their spot along with the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico in the men’s category while the Dominican Republic and Barbados were set to represent the region in the female category.
The no-show for the Guyanese is particularly disconcerting since Guyana has been putting up notable performances at the Caribbean level over the past two years. A number of senior players were looking forward to the opportunity most notably Shemar Britton who reached the final of the U21 singles and the semi-finals of the men’s singles at the Pan Am Qualifiers and Caribbean championships held here earlier this year.
Guyana, playing at home during the 61st senior championships, placed second overall in the team’s category behind the Dominican Republic and ahead of third place Barbados. Southpaws Britton and Trenace Low both copped bronze in the singles category while Low and Jody-Ann Blake secured silver in the women’s doubles category. Lowe and Christopher Franklin won bronze in the mixed doubles category while Nigel Bryan and Joel Alleyne hustled their way to bronze in the men’s doubles category.
The Guyanese were set to test their mettle against teams from the United States, Canada, Coast Rica, Brazil, Cuba, El Salvador among others.
Meanwhile, a source close to the Godfrey Munroe led Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA), declined to comment on why the team failed to make the journey to Paraguay. However, it is felt in some quarters that Guyana’s participation was curtailed due to lack of funding although the GTTA is usually tardy when it comes to such matters.