Name: Kaysan Jamil NinvalleAge: 11 years old
Sport: Table Tennis
Schools Attended: Chase Academy, Mae’s School

KAYSAN Ninvalle was just 4 years old when he began playing table tennis in 2009, inspired by his older brother, former national junior champion, Khalil Ninvalle. Since then the Chase Academy student has been gradually sharpening his skills in his bid to advance in the sport.
Earlier this year he began to build steam at the National Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships where he won the Boys’ Under-11, as well the Under-15 singles. He finished with a creditable second place in the Under-15 singles.
Recently the youngster has been making headlines, following his wins at the Caribbean Pre-Cadet Table Tennis Championship in Jamaica last month.
Kaysan dominated in the Boys’ Under-11 category, walking away with the gold – Guyana’s only gold medal at the regional competition, which was dictated by the Trinidad players, Ninvalle prevailed over Jalen Kerr in an exhilarating five-set match that ended 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7.
Being the only singles where Trinidad did not win made it all the more remarkable. Kaysan left this lasting impression in just his first time representing Guyana at an event.
In other medal wins Ninvalle teamed up with Nirah Bissu to take silver in the Boys’ Under-13 doubles competition, and shared the Under-13 Mixed doubles second place win with Abigale Martin.
Subsequently, Kaysan saw himself on the receiving end of support from several corporate entities that included lifetime membership at Gym 53, operated by famed Guyanese cricketer Ramnaresh Sarwan, and was furnished with a spanking new Samsung Galaxy S7 from Gizmos and Gadgets. He also received support from Dexter ‘Bushman’ Garnett, Colours Boutique and Chase Academy, making Kaysan somewhat of a little celebrity in his own right!
“Every time I’m in the newspapers my teacher would bring the newspaper to school and show the class, and some of the students would congratulate me.” Kaysan said as he smiled.
The backing has helped tremendously to encourage Kaysan, who shared that his older brother actually stopped playing the sport after being frustrated by the lack of support whenever teams needed to go overseas, and would often end up not being able to go.
Kaysan hopes not to follow that path and the strong young man declares that he refuses to let his spirit be broken when things get bad, fully intending to persevere and always hoping for the best as time goes on.
Nonetheless that will be no easy task. As many have learned, being a student athlete is no easy task. First Form student Kaysan trains six days a week, from 16:00hrs to 18:00hrs, Mondays to Fridays and 11:30hrs – 15:00hrs on Saturdays under popular local coach Linden Johnson.
But Kaysan, for the time being, has been doing an admirable job balancing academics and sports, while still managing to enjoy the little things that childhood is all about.
“It’s very, very hard but I just do what I have to do, I come, play then go home do my homework and then maybe try to watch some TV. Sometimes I have a lot of homework and I have to call Mr Johnson and tell him I can’t make it, but then I try to make it the next day.” He said. (tgarnett_sports@yahoo.com)