Before Chelsea Edghill, there was Sydney Christophe.
Widely considered to be the most talented Guyanese racquet wielder ever, Christophe at the height of his powers, dominated the local scene like no other before him or since, winning national men’s singles and doubles as well as mixed doubles titles with consummate ease. There was talk of training stints in China but that’s all it was, talk!
Nothing ever materialized.
Notwithstanding, the lack of government support, Christophe did go on to reach the pinnacle of the sport, winning the Caribbean men’s singles title, the last Guyanese male player to do so.
It was his crowning achievement and he defeated none other than a former two-time Caribbean men’s singles champion in Jamaican Stephen Hylton at the 1992 Caribbean championships held here in Guyana.
Further afield Christophe held his own against the best he came up against whether it was at Latin American or other tournaments where he played against such great players such as Mario Alvarez of the Dominican Republic and Canada’s Horatio Pintea, who is originally from Romania.
His enduring record though, and one which might never be broken is that he is the longest reigning men’s singles champion in Guyana.
His reign began in 1984 and ended in January of 2001.
Christophe’s biggest regret might be not being able to fulfill his potential while a player.
Today he lives in the United States of America and is an International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Level Three coach.
Stabroek Sports recently contacted Christophe for his thoughts on Edghill’s participation at the Tokyo Olympic Games and the way forward.
According to the southpaw, Edghill can go a far way in the sport.
“She needs to continue to train at a high level in Europe, get into the leagues and play. She cannot go back home in that system,” he remarked.
Christophe suggests that Edghill follow in the footsteps of former Caribbean men’s singles champion the late Dexter St Louis of Trinidad and Tobago, who played semi-professionally for Cam Bordeaux, in France for many years.
As a result, St Louis was able to qualify for the Olympic Games on two occasions, playing at the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta and in 2008 at the Beijing Olympic Games.
“Pro tours will help her and if she can come back to the Caribbean and play among the Latin American players that should be good too,” said Christophe.
According to Christophe, Edghill has age on her side being just 24 and, as such, qualifying for the next Olympics should be on her agenda.
He also thinks that winning the Caribbean women’s singles should definitely be among her focus.
Christophe lamented the fact that because of the quality of players at the Olympics and the rigidness of the schedule, Edghill had very little playing time.
“One or two matches and that’s it. The Pro-Tour will afford her the opportunity to play in the league where she will play team matches as well as singles and doubles and so she will get to see the real level of the players.”
Of her Tokyo Olympic sojourn, Christophe said Edghill’s first match against Sally Yee of Fiji did not fully test the Guyanese.
Edghill defeated Yee 4-1 winning 11-5, 4-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-8.
“It was a good victory for her. Good opening win as because it was her first match there was an enormous pressure on her to perform not to mention the ever present nerves. That in itself could have affected her and made her not play at her best. However, she was able to stand up to the challenge against Yee,” he said.
Edghill lost her second match to South Korea’s Yubin Shin 11-7, 11-8, 11-1, 12-10 and Christophe said that despite the 4-0 score line he thought that she did well.
“I think she held her own. There are a couple more things she has to work on, that she has to go back to the drawing board to correct,” he declared.
Following her exit from the Olympics Edghill said that she was looking forward to the future.
“The Olympics has come to an end for me and all I feel is pride and humility for such an incredible experience,” she wrote on her Facebook page.
“I just want to say thank you! To my sponsors, the Guyana Table Tennis Association, the Guyana Olympic Association, my supporters and above all else, my entire family you have my gratitude.
To my coach Idi, you’ve been there through thick and thin and it’s with pride that I share such an experience with you. Thank you.
To all of my fellow Guyanese, it fills my heart with joy and happiness seeing you come together to support me at a very historic moment in our history and I hope to have your continued support. Thank you so much for everything!!!!
And to those who I hold dearest to my heart. I can’t begin to thank you for the continued support and for always having my back. I’m so thankful for you. I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
One would hope that Christophe’s appeal for support for Edghill does not fall on deaf ears and that she can add another first that of being the first Guyanese racquet wielder to play professionally on the international scene to that of being the first Guyanese table tennis player to play at the Olympics.
For that she will need the support of corporate Guyana, the private sector, the government and everyone else who wants to see the Guyana’s elite athletes fulfilling their potential and in the process bringing glory to the land of our birth.
