Jasmine Billingy continues to defy the odds and rewrite the record books.
Capitalising on the absence of national champion and Olympian Chelsea Edghill and number two female player Natalie Cummings, Billingy stormed to victory in the women’s singles of the recent Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) Mashramani championships.
It was one of four titles the 11-year-old captured and in the process she became one of the youngest female players, if not the youngest, to win a women’s singles competition locally.
She has already at the tender age of nine won an U21 female singles competition and though the women’s competition was also without Billingy’s nemesis Thuraia Thomas, Billingy continues to show that she is worth investing in.
In the round robin final women’s singles final she defeated Samara Sukhai 11-8, 9-11, 11-7 and 11-5 and Akira Watson 13-11, 11-5 and 11-6).
Sukhai defeated Watson 11-8, 11-2 and 11-6 for second place.
The men’s singles competition was also with national champion Christopher Franklin and Shemar Britton, runner-up to Franklin at the nationals duly eased to victory.
However, the star of the tournament was undoubtedly Billingy who also won the U-13, U-15 and U-19 titles at the event.
In the men’s singles final, national player Britton, defeated Jonathan Van Lange 16-14, 11-7, 11-9 and 11-7.
In the semi-final Britton defeated Elishaba Johnson 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 and 11-3 after an 11-9, 11-6, 11-6 and 11-9 quarter-final defeat of Remy Taitt.
Van Lange created a mild upset when he defeated the much higher seeded player Joel Alleyne 13-11, 11-6, 13-11, 6-11 and 11-9 in his semifinal after ousting Orin `Vege’ Hickerson 11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8 and 11-5 at the quarter-final stage.
Hickerson rebounded by winning the ‘B’ Class singles from veteran player and former 1979 national men’s singles champion Colin France 9-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-7, 11-6 in the final.
Hickerson defeated Elishaba Johnson 13-11, 11-9 and 11-7 while France beat Devon Richmond 11-8, 7-11, 11-8 and 11-8 in the semi-finals.
Van Lange continued his rapid rise by defeating Niran Bissu 11-8, 11-2 and 11-5 in the boys U19 final.
He had beaten the promising Krystian Sahadeo 11-2, 7-11, 11-7 and 11-7 while Bissu defeated Colin Wong 11-4, 11-7 and 11-6 in the semi-finals.
Billingy won the U19 final by defeating Sukhai and Watson, the U15 finals from Sukhai, Watson and Sobennma Venture and the U13 girls from Sukhai, Watson and Shackecy Damon.
Sukhai won the U-11 girls title from Seona Barker and Shackecy Damon.
Zion Hickerson won the boys Under-nine category from Aaron Edwards and Noel Persaud; Darrius Daniels placed first in the U-11 division with Edwards and A Johnson finishing second and third and Malachi Moore won the boys u13 category from Ebo McNeil with Daniels and Travis Lyken joint third.
Colin Wong won the U-15 division from McNeil with Moore and Daniels tied for third.
