The Caribbean Regional Table Tennis Federation (CRTTF) will soon make a final pronouncement on the possibility of running off the 2020 edition of the Caribbean mini and pre-cadet table tennis championship in Guyana during August.
The tournament is in limbo due to the devastation of COVID – 19.
The regional body according to Godfrey Munroe, president of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) will meet virtually in the coming days to iron out a number of issues.
“CRTTF hasn’t made a final decision; there is supposed to be a meeting [virtually] at the end of the week where we will discuss if we’ll proceed or not with the championships,” Munroe explained to Stabroek Sports.
“We’ll get something definitive soon but as of now it hasn’t been cancelled, officially.”
He noted there are a number of factors that will be taken into account if the body goes ahead with hosting the tournament.
“…there are two variables. There is the local situation in terms of the curve and then there is the implication for the region. Those two will have to be measured [during the upcoming meeting] but we will await the CRTTF decision.
“All those things will be discussed to come up with a final determination but we still want to host it if the situation allows itself to because we have some prospects that are really good. Jasmine [Billingy] and Colin [Wong] are good.”
Munroe’s optimism isn’t far-fetched since a number of sports bodies, regionally and internationally have been putting practical measures in place to resume live sports in the midst of the ongoing pandemic.
There is a pending West Indies tour to England, the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) may go ahead in an isolated location and currently St Vincent is hosting the “Vincy Premier League” cricket tournament.
However, if Munroe gets his way, precise planning and execution will have to be the order of the day to make the championship a success under these strange circumstances.
Meanwhile, among the other noted discussion points expected to be fleshed out will be the possibility of altering the eligibility criteria to allow final year players to participate in the 2021 edition of the championship if this year’s is cancelled.
The mini and pre- cadet championships cater for the participation of the region’s top girls and boys between the ages of 11 and 13 years. Pulling the plug on the 2020 edition could prevent final year players from medalling if consideration isn’t given for them to participate in 2021.
“… we will also discuss the considerations around the age group categories in terms of eligibility, whether those who are eligible for this year will still be eligible for next year and how we’ll treat with that,” said Munroe.
He added that if the regional body decides to pull the plug on the 2020 edition of the championships, Guyana will likely host the 2021 edition once the COVID-19 situation is wrestled under control.
Caribbean Under-13 boys bronze medallist, Wong, Billingy, Samara Sukhai, Akira Watson, Quenna Torrington, Malachi Moore, Ebo Mc Neil, Dhanesh Persaud, and Alexander De Abreu Neil are some of the notable names expected to suit up for Guyana if the tournament is given the greenlight.
