Performances by the likes of Nicolette Fernandes, Winston George, and the female table tennis team were just a few of the outstanding displays by the Guyana team at the Commonwealth Games that made President of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), K Juman Yassin, satisfied with Guyana’s attendance at the Games.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday afternoon at Olympic House, Yassin noted that the team set out with the main aim of giving exposure to athletes, aspiring to have the athletes at least improve their skill, and for some of the athletes he believed this was attained.
“We may not have won any medals but at the end of the day the Guyana flag was displayed at the Commonwealth Games and that is something to be proud of. We need to give our athletes as much exposure as possible and I think we did that,.” Yassin remarked.
Guyana had fielded a 39 man team to the recently concluded Games which ran from July 23 – August 4. Guyana participated in seven of the eighteen sporting disciplines in which events were contested at the Games. Guyana participated in athletics, boxing, cycling, rifle shooting, squash, swimming, and table tennis.
A number of representatives from the different sporting disciplines were also present at yesterday’s press briefing, as they reported on the level of satisfaction of the respective athletes’ performance at this year’s attendance.
In his address, Yassin emphasised that he was particularly moved by the performance showcased by Nicolette Fernandes, when she took on World women’s number two, Laura Marasso, in her round of 16 matches in the women’s singles in squash.
“For me the best part was the game with Nicollete, she lost but, the way she played, I felt as if she won. There was a standing ovation for Nicollete after that game, because of how well she played,” Juman commented.
Fernandes, ranked 19th in the world, took on Marasso and went down 1 – 3 in a hefty battle. Other notable performance was that of George, who made it into the semi-finals of both the men’s 400m and 200m events.
In the table tennis arena, Guyana’s women’s team of Chelsea Edghill, Trenace Lowe and Natalie Cummings did their country proud after their determination and skills saw them toppling the higher ranked Scotland team in the women’s team competition. Meanwhile on the men’s side things were not as bright, and there was mention of the need for some players to hang up their racquets.
For the cyclists and rifle shooters the weather was noted as an impeding factor. For cycling it was the cold atmosphere and the rain. Additionally, there was the incident of one of the cyclists, who fell down which greatly affected the other cyclists who had stopped to check on their colleague.
The rifle shooters were commended for having to battle against adverse conditions that included harsh winds and a fog that descended upon the venue.
Touching on boxing, Yassin noted that he was not particular pleased with the performances of the boxers but Eon Bancroft was an exception. Bancroft made it into the quarter finals, but his height, or lack thereof, was pointed out as one of the contributing factors that lead to his lost against Tulani Mbenge.
Though the South African towered over Bancroft, Yassin and the boxing team coach, Terrence Poole, affirmed that Bancroft put up a worthy fight against his opponent.
In swimming Guyana had one lone swimmer, Onika George, who attended alongside her coach Sean Baksh. Baksh, who was present at yesterday’s press conference, noted that 16 year old George performed reasonably managing to perform close to her seed time in her events.
With the Commonwealth Games out of the way the GOA now has its sights set on performing at least credibly at the currently ongoing Pan American Sports Festival in Mexico, which began last month and ends in September.

(By Tamica Garnett)