A NUMBER of students were justly rewarded when the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA), in collaboration with the National Sports Commission and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, held its annual Independence table tennis presentation.

At the simple presentation ceremony held at the National Gymnasium, which was attended by winners, parents, schools, and GTTA officials, Director of Sport Neil Kumar in his address urged winners to pursue discipline, determination and dedication in pursuit of higher goals.
Kumar told the various winners that they can achieve whatever goals they set, noting that being disciplined, determined and dedicated is pivotally important.
“You do not have to stop here as I urge you all to continue building on what you have started. Allow this to fuel your passion and desires for greater success,” he told them.
The Sports Commission director pointed out that close to 100 students competed in the annual tournament noting that the response was very good.
Kumar urged the GTTA officials to be more responsible and professional in the execution of their duties declaring that they were elected to perform and give leadership.
“I will say what I have been saying to many of the associations which is that you were elected to provide leadership while serving and I want to see more of that,” he said.
Kumar told the executive that the table tennis programme is very useful and important, pointing out that there are numerous benefits to be derived from it. He reminded the GTTA officials of their responsibility to ensure that more aggressive and creative programmes are implemented urging them to stick to their tasks of lifting the sport.
Minister Dr Frank Anthony in his address thanked both the GTTA and the National Sports Commission for what he said was a very well organised programme.
He said that he is very happy to see that the programme is growing noting that it has been running for a number of years. Minister Anthonyexpressed the view that his ministry is not interested in having competitions but rather having institutionalised arrangements in place. This, he stressed has been around for the past three to four years.
“At the ministry we are more interested in having institutionalised programmes in place and not so much competitions and I am very happy with the very close and collaborative relationship that currently exists between us,” the Sports Minister said.
He noted that while the GTTA continues to be aggressive in pursuing its goals, remaining consistent is critically important. Minister Anthony pointed out that the association gets very aggressive and runs somewhat cold after stressing that this approach has to change if consistent and significant progress will be made.
Winning in the Under-9 male was Kaysan Ninvalle with Tyriq Saunders taking the Under-11 title with Miguel Wong copping the Under-13 crown. Nevaeh Clarston took the Girls Under-13 crown with Sharnar Britton taking the Under-15, Under-18 and Under-21 male titles. The Under-15 female title went to Priscilla Greaves with Akeicia Nedd taking the Under-18 version.

In the Junior Boys doubles category, Elishaba Johnson and David Duncan took the title while Akecia Nedd and Priscilla Greaves were the runners-up.
In the Junior Mixed category Nedd and Alex Hopkinson were the winners. Britton returned to take the Men’s Open singles with Chelsea Edghil taking the Open female version. At the end of the titles it was revealed that Britton grabbed four titles while Nedd took home three and Greaves two.