… Athletes urged to maintain discipline and fair play
THE teams’ march past, speeches, ceremonial hoisting of the three nations’ flags and a dance heralded the opening of the second leg of the 23rd Inter-Guiana Games at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) yesterday afternoon, with the athletes being urged to maintain discipline and fair play at all times. Acting President and Prime Minister of Guyana, Samuel Hinds, in his brief remarks before officially declaring the Games open, highlighted the way the Games have grown from strength to strength, to his audience which included Ministers of Sport from both Guyana and Suriname in Dr Frank Anthony and Paul Abena as well as French Guiana’s Director of Sport Florence Robine.
“First of all, let me take this opportunity to welcome both the French Guiana and Suriname contingents to Guyana where they will be battling for supremacy over the next two days in the various sport disciplines.
“At the same time, let me commend the local organising committee for pooling their resources together to ensure another successful staging of the IGG by Guyana, as the three competing countries can forge a better relationship through sports, using these games which have grown from strength to strength as a vehicle,” Prime Minister Hinds stated.
He added; “With that in mind, I would like to urge all the athletes to compete in fairness and at the same time maintain discipline and in choosing the words of a former sports reporter, the late BL Crombie who often said at the end of his sports report: ‘It matters not whether you win or lose but how you play the game,’ I would like to take this opportunity to declare these games open.”
Prior to the Acting President delivering the feature remarks and declaring the games open, Dr Anthony said the Games can be used by the participating athletes as a bond of friendship which can grow to form a country-to-country relationship.
“Students form bonds of friendship and hopefully, that can grow to form a country-to-country relationship, which is important as it helps develop the countries involved, so certainly, sports is a vehicle that can be used to foster relationships between countries.
“These Games have a long and rich history that have helped to bring countries closer and while the respective athletes compete fiercely for supremacy, the organisers are working towards making the next edition of the games a better one than the present one that is ongoing.”
He continued, “Over the next couple of days, we will be holding a protocol meeting where we will be discussing these Games and looking at areas where we can strengthen, improve and expand it as well as it is our hope to have as many youths as possible from the three countries compete in these Games in the not-too-distant future.”
Both Abena and Robine thanked the National Sports Commission, whose Director of Sport Neil Kumar performed the duties of chairman at the opening ceremony, for successfully organising a wonderful opening ceremony and urged all the athletes from the three countries to compete fiercely but fairly at all times.
Abena further stated that many athletes can recall how important it is to represent their country at these games and called on the athletes to foster a closer relationship among themselves while at the same time exhibit respect for each other.
In his opening remarks, Kumar remarked at the level of importance both French Guiana and Suriname have placed on the Games, something Guyana seeks to emulate –  to make the second edition of this year’s Games one of the best ever.
“This is an event we are all proud of, when you look at the preparations that took place to make it a success story today. I am pleased to see the importance both Suriname and French Guiana have placed behind these Games and I must say that Guyana has followed suit in making the preparations a priority,” said Kumar.
Following the brief remarks, those gathered at the venue including high-ranking sports officials from the three countries, witnessed the hoisting of the flags by three officers attached to the Guyana Defence Force who acted as flagbearers, while the National Dance Company’s young troupe did a dance.
The action got under way immediately with French Guiana and Suriname’s female basketballers going head-to-head. Guyana’s male basketball team were scheduled to take on French Guiana at the same venue from 21:00 h last night.
The cyclists take to the roads today when the team time trials pedal off from Good Hope on the East Coast of Demerara to Liliendaal for the finish, before the basketballers swing into action at the CASH from 14:00 h, while chess is being contested at the Ocean View Hotel.
Suriname are the defending champions in both basketball and volleyball, while cycling and chess have been introduced for the first time.
The Guyana Police Force Band entertained the guests prior to the opening ceremony.