The Guyana Committee of Services (GCOS) yesterday continued its charitable work by assisting national table tennis coach Idi Lewis with a financial donation ahead of his upcoming sojourn at the Pan American Games this weekend in Santiago, Chile.
The GCOS also held a table tennis tournament which pitted some members of the Guyana table tennis delegation which recently returned from a training stint in China against some of the top local players.
That tournament was won by national champion Christopher Franklin who defeated Krystian Sahadeo in the final.
Third was Stanley Jones.
Lewis, who is due to depart Guyana sometime this week, is the coach assigned to national players Shemar Britton and Chelsea Edghill who will compete in singles and mixed doubles at the games.
The table tennis competition will serve off Sunday with the women singles.
Lewis said yesterday that he will be participating in the Technical Committee meeting where the draws for the singles and doubles competitions will be held.
In an invited comment Linden `Jumbie’ Jones, executive member of GCOS said that they have often visited Lewis during his coaching clinics at the Malteenoes Sports Club and was impressed with his dedication hence the decision to assist him.
He said that the mandate of the GCOs was to assist persons not only in sports but in all facets of life.
“Well, the Guyana Committee of Services is always trying to do whatever it can in any little way to assist the development of all people,” said Jones.
He noted that a number of young TT players including Britton and Edghill who will compete in Chile and Sahadeo, Niran Bissu and Malachi Moore were in China on a training programme facilitated by the Guyana Table Tennis Association and was eager to pit those players against a number of the seasoned national players.
“So we thought it fitting to put on just a nice little mini tournament. So The Guyana Committee of Services is very pleased to put on this tournament and to present these guys with a little token as encouragement,” said Jones.
Jones said that the GCOS was keen on fulfilling its mandate.
“In order to fulfill our mandate and give support the way we would like to, we would normally run fund-raising activities. Presently we have our annual raffle where lucky persons can win the one million dollars first prize. Of course, there are 10 other prizes, $300,000 second prize an electric bike, a 42-inch flat-screen television, smarts phones and electronic tablets. The raffle is set to be drawn on the 31st of December but in order to encourage people to buy from now, every month we do bonus draws, so you can actually win several times with the purchase of one ticket.”
In yesterday’s final Franklin, the current national men’s singles champion defeated Sahadeo 11-9, 8-11, 11-9 to win the first prize of an undisclosed amount of cash.
