The Guyana Chess Federation’s junior teams departed for French Guiana yesterday, accompanied by the other sports disciplines, to compete in the 2024 edition of the Inter Guiana Games (IGG) from October 24 to 26.
The junior female team is formidable and comprises newly minted Women’s Candidate Master (WCM) Aditi Joshi, Ciel Clement, Kaija Clement, and Italy Ton-Chung. Meanwhile, the male team is equally solid and is made up of Candidate Master (CM) Sachin Pitamber, Alexander Zhang, and Omar Shariff.
Initially, Kyle Couchman and Amara Branche were selected to be part of the teams, respectively, but opted out at the last minute, leaving the male team short by one player. On the other hand, Kaija Clement was able to fill in for Branche on the female side. The team will be led by Coach Roberto Nero and accompanied by officials Tanya Clement and Archana Joshi.
Travel arrangements for the athletes were made by the National Sports Commission (NSC), which provided uniforms for every player and official. The 140-member contingent met with the Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr., on Sunday at the Guyana National Stadium in Providence.
French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana will be represented by the best athletes in their individual disciplines. The contingent is expected to arrive in the host city, Cayenne, today and is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony before the competition begins.
The seven sports disciplines that will contest this year’s IGG are athletics, basketball, beach volleyball, chess, futsal, swimming, and table tennis. The Inter Guiana Games began in Suriname in 1967 to strengthen relationships and forge bonds among the three territories through sports and shared values. Guyana is slated to host the IGG in 2025.
