Guyana’s National Women’s Table Tennis Champion, Chelsea Edghill’s bid for a second Olympic Games participation ended yesterday in a seven-game thriller against Cuba’s Estela Crespo in Lima, Peru.
Playing in the International Table Tennis Federation’s (ITTF) Americas Qualifier, the last tournament that offers qualification to the Olympic Games slated for Paris later this year, Edghill showed great resolve in her 3-4 set loss to the Cuban but could not add the finishing touch.
In the first game, Edghill signalled her intention early on as she prevailed 11-9, however Crespo rebounded strongly to let Edghill know that she would not be that easy to beat with a 11-5 win of her own to square the match.
Edghill took the lead with another strong showing in an 11-8 win to go 2-1 up.
Despite dropping behind, Crespo then took two consecutive games to eke out a 3-2 lead. She won those games with scores of 11-7 and 11-8 but Edghill levelled things yet again with an 11-8 win of her own. With things tied at 3-3, it went down to the decisive seventh game which ended in favour of the Cuban 11-6 to seal her progression.
In 2020, Edghill made history as the first Guyanese and first female from the English-speaking Caribbean to compete at the Olympics in Table Tennis, following her qualification for the Tokyo Games via a wildcard entry.
Chelsea Edghill battled valiantly but fell just short in her bid for Olympic Qualification in Lima, Peru, losing 3-4 to Cuba’s Estela Crespo.
