Local table tennis action for the new year will commence later in the month with the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) announcing that the body is gearing up to serve off the 2020 editions of the senior national and junior table tennis championships respectively in January.
According to a release, the seniors will go up against each other from January 17-19 while the country’s top juniors will trade serves from January 24-26.
Both championships will be played at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH), Homestretch Avenue.
Returning to defend his crown in the male senior category is 2018 Caribbean Men’s Singles bronze medalist Christopher Franklin. He is likely to face a stern challenge from the 2018 Caribbean under 21 champion Shemar Britton. Former National Champion Nigel Bryan and Joel Alleyne are also in the reckoning for top honours.
On the women’s side, the returning champion Natalie Cummings is all but sure to retain her crown due to the absence of Chelsea Edghill and Trenace Lowe. However, the absence of the two senior TT stateswomen will present opportunities for young guns Priscilla Greaves, Neveah Clarkston, and Thuraia Thomas to show their worth.
The junior championships, on the other hand, will feature the likes of defending Under – 15 and Under 18 champion Jonathan Van Lange, Krystian Sahadeo, Kaysan Ninvalle, and Jamal Nicholas among others clashing for the coveted male junior prizes.
A mouth-watering contest between the female under 18 defending champion Thuraia Thomas and Neveah Clarkston will take center stage while Jasmine Billingy, Thomas, Crystal Melville and Abigail Martin will contest the under – 15 category.
The GTTA has long refused to establish a selection criteria based on tournaments and trials but according to the release both championships will be used to establish ranking points to use as a basis to select the respective national teams.
