… Murray is junior champion
A DIFFERENTLY-abled Gibran Hussain defied the odds to defeat former nine-time national female table tennis champion Desiree Lancaster to walk away with the first-ever Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA)-organized  Berbice Open tournament at the Port Mourant Training Centre Wednesday night.
In the junior category, 12-year-old New Amsterdam Multilateral Secondary School (NAMSS) student, Bryton Murray, defeated the number one seed Joshua Lalbachan 11-5, 5-11, 11-7, 11-7 to take that title, with Jamal Butts occupying the third position. But it was the 51-year-old Lancaster, who adorned herself with national glory from 1986 to 1990, followed by a 1992 to 1995 reign, who had the small but vociferous crowd on hand chanting and cheering to every point she won during her matches in the Open category, even in the final.
Lancaster called on her wits and experience to dispose of Sherwin Sahadeo, who was later named the Most Talented Player (MTP) by the Association’s president and Commissioner of Police Henry Greene, in five tough sets, winning 11-6, 3-11, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10.
In her quarterfinal matchup against Curtis De Freitas, Lancaster cruised to a comfortable straight-sets victory, with the score line reading 11-8, 11-7, 11-8, before another gruelling and mind-testing semifinal matchup against Omraj Singh.
Singh, who had earlier defeated Floyd Conway 3-1 (8-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-8) in their quarterfinal matchup, took the first two sets 11-7, 12-10 and seemed set for a straight-sets victory, as he held a 3-0 lead in the third set.
Not to be outdone, Lancaster showed the courage, will and stamina that brought her the nine national female titles she held as she stormed back to take the third and fourth sets 11-3, 11-8, setting up an exciting final set.
Long rallies and intense exchange of both forehand and backhand loops from both players attracted the attention of the audience which included Commander of ‘B’ DivisionAssistant Commissioner Steve Merai, along with other executives of the GTTA including General Secretary, and present national male champion Godfrey Munroe.
An even exchange ensued between the two, before Singh raced to a 7-4 lead.
Not to be outdone, Lancaster levelled the score at 8, before Singh, who received loud support from the eventual champion Hussain took the next two points off his serve to be within one point from a matchup in the final, with the score reading 10-8 in his favour.
The silence that pervaded the venue was enough to give those in attendance the chance to hear the buzz of the flies that circled the arena, as Lancaster received the ball to serve at a critical stage of the match, which would decide whether she will contest the final or not.
As was evident in her earlier matches, Lancaster gathered her wits to take the next two points and forced the match into two point game, to which she eventually won 14-12, amidst some minor controversy over a point when she had a 12-11 lead with the serve.
Even though she was focused, Lancaster lost her energy in the final as Hussain who had earlier defeated Richard Bacchus 11-5, 11-6, 11-5 in their semifinal encounter, raced to a 2-0 lead in the final when he took the first two sets 11-7, 11-5.
Like Singh before him, he had the opportunity to close out the match and walk away with the title in the third set, when he led 9-6 before Lancaster showed some fight of her own to take the set with a 12-10 score line.
That was her last respite for the night, as Hussain whose left arm is amputated in the same position as that of cyclist Walter Grant-Stuart, took the final set 11-4, to earn for himself the $50 000 first prize and trophy that went along with it, while Lancaster took home $30 000 and a trophy.
Bacchus defeated a dehydrated Singh 13-11, 11-8, 11-3 in their third place matchup to take the $20 000 and trophy while Hussain was later adjudged the Most Outstanding Player-of-the-tournament, earning a further $40 000 and trophy.
In the junior category Murray, like Hussain, took home $50 000 and a trophy while Lalbachan and Jamal Butts took home $30 000 and $20 000 respectively along with trophies for their second and third place positions while Julian Haniff won the Fair Play trophy and $25 000.
In the Under-15 category which was played on a round-robin format, the pint-size Jordan Conway who played unbeaten came out on top over Genene Kellman, Anita Alleyne and his older sister Joylyn Conway in that order, with the top three finishers taking home the similar prizes as the previous category winners.