GUYANA’S Minister of Sport Dr Frank Anthony yesterday told his audience, which included Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Director of Sport within the National Sports Commission Neil Kumar, it is his wish to see more sport disciplines added to the list at the Inter-Guiana Games (IGG).

Dr Anthony was at the time, addressing the opening of the Guyana leg of this year’s event at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall yesterday, where he applauded the organisers for doing a wonderful job in a short space of time, adding table tennis to the game’s repertoire. Also present was Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport Alfred King, along with athletes and officials from Suriname and Guyana, with French Guiana missing from the lineup this time around.
“We in Guyana are very pleased to host this leg of the Games and we are sorry that we do not have the French to participate, but we want the games to go on. This generation of athletes from Guyana and Suriname, together with French Guiana has formed a closer bond over the years through these games” said Dr Anthony.
He added, “Perhaps, while we don’t speak the same language, we have a common and universal vision and that is sports because we all understand the rules of the game and we can all relate to that. I think that when we engage in these sporting activities, it is not jusr to perhaps dispel perception and misconceptions, but that we have gotten closer together.”
Dr Anthony took the time to call on the athletes from both countries to exhibit good discipline while having keen and clean competition.
Looking at the addition of tabletennis to the list of games which already includes chess, football, athletics, cycling and volleyball, Dr Anthony said the addition of more sports to the curriculum is something he had previously spoken about, to the organisers from all three countries.
Also delivering remarks was Prime Minister Hinds who said he was pleased to be present at the opening of the Games, adding that Suriname and Guyana shared a great relationship in times past, while calling on the participants from both countries to grow that relationship.
“If we look to Europe, we would see that the former colonial leaders are coming closer together in the European Union and there are some people who still think that one day they will come together as a United States of Europe.
“We here must ensure that we get together, no less quickly as our former colonial leaders are getting together and we should get together very closely. I know that particularly between Guyana and Suriname we are in the process of closing our relationship, especially in the traffic department, wherein the president of Suriname has indicated the building of a bridge across the Corentyne and that is good,” said Prime Minister Hinds.  
Immediately after declaring the Games open and following a short break as the teams got themselves prepared, Guyana’s male and female teams engaged Suriname in one of two volleyball matches at the same venue, with the Prime Minister doing the ceremonial serve-off.
In the female encounter, Suriname prevailed by a 3-1 margin, with the scoreline reading 25-12, 19-25, 25-15, 26-24 while their male counterparts swept their hosts in straight sets, winning 25-21, 25-22, 25-21 and up to press time last night, both countries were battling at chess and volleyball once again.