THE Guyana Table Tennis Association will host the Caribbean Junior and Cadet table tennis Championships scheduled for April 14-19 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.The competition will be used as the qualification event for the 2nd Pan American Junior and cadet table tennis Championships scheduled for the USA in September of 2017.
It will also be used to select the top four teams from the Caribbean who will join the top four (4) from Central America and the top four (4) teams from South America to qualify for the Pan Am event.
With the qualification event being compulsory, all the top teams from the region are slated to participate.
The Cadet and Junior championships engage players aged 15 years and under as well as 18 years and under and will provide the opportunity for thirty-two(32) of Guyana’s top junior athletes to compete against the region’s best for regional honours.
The GTTA has already shortlisted the squad to be announced with the aim of starting the teams preparation.
Last year Guyana’s Junior boys’ team secured silver medal in a three-way tie between host and winners the Dominican Republic,whom Guyana defeated by a 3-2 margin,and Trinidad and Tobago.
This year the locals will look to use the home advantage to put in a more outstanding performance with a view to securing qualification for the prestigious Junior Pan American Table tennis Championships and winning regional honours.
The junior boys team provides a very formidable line up to capture the Junior boys team title with the likes of:Miguel Wong,Elishaba Johnson,Kyle Edghill, Sheldon Atherley,Nicholas Romain, Tyriq Saunders ,Jamaal Nicholas, Terrence Rausche, Yeudistr Persuad, kaysan Brandon Jaikarran, Navindra Persaud, Jeremey Singh, Isaiah Layne, Nrion Bissu,Khalil Ninvalle, Jonathan Van Lange, Ty Dixon among others.They are expected to form the nucleus of the team that will look to protect the home turf against their counterparts from the other Caribbean territories.On the girls side, Priscillia Greaves would likely be leading Guyana’s challenge. The association feels this team can be very competitive and will be making the extra effort to prepare the team,given that most of the team members are under 13 and 15 years old and will be competing against much more seasoned opponents.So there are lots of work to be done to ensure that Neveah Clarkston, Selenas Jackman,Abidale Martin,Onieka Philips,Davona Bess thruraia Thomas Christie Lopes among others,will be up to the challenge.
To enhance their training, the association will have the senior players train with members of the junior team,in order to fast track and allow for improvement in the technical and tactical skills,thereby reinforcing fundamentals while improving confidence among the junior players.
With an active training and competition programme mapped out for the associations 2017 calendar, the GTTA would be gauging the players’ progress over the coming months in order to arrive at the best possible team to compete at the championships.
The categories to be contested are: Boys Singles and Doubles, Mixed Doubles,Girls Singles and Doubles and Mixed Doubles in the respective age groups.