By Michelangelo Jacobus
ACCORDING to president of the Titans Table Tennis Club (TTTC), Dwain Dick, the fast approaching ‘Slammer Jammer’ Junior Table Tennis competition is a ‘measuring stick’ of sorts not only for Guyana’s brightest young talents but also for coaches.
The Viva Water-sponsored tournament is set for September 8-9 and will feature competition in the U-9, U-11, U-13, U-15 and U-18 categories.
Speaking to Chronicle Sport, Dick pointed out that the tournament will “give us another opportunity to assess not just players, but coaches, and how the game itself is progressing locally.”
With creditable performances from some of Guyana’s best young talents at the recently concluded CRTTF Mini and Pre-Cadet Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Dick also revealed that ‘Slammer Jammer’ will also be the perfect opportunity to make decisions and to plan for the future.
“From here (Slammer Jammer) we plan to really make some major decisions for next year in terms of looking at either bringing in high-level coaches or taking some of them (players) to camps overseas with the main objective being to access scholastic opportunities for them as well as to try to have them qualify for International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)-sanctioned events.”
Returning players from the Mini and Pre-Cadet Championships will also feature at the tournament. Those players include Jonathan Van Lange, Kaysan Ninvalle, Krystian Sahadeo, Thuraia Thomas, Nkechi McRae.
The TTTC president is of the opinion that these players will add to the quality of the competition and provide thrilling entertainment for fans and patrons at ‘Slammer Jammer’.
To this end, he said; “I guarantee the public will get to see some really competitive matches, because the best junior players, back from the Dominican Republic, will be on show. This is our third tourney for the year so far, added to our summer camp and child protection seminar. We have been using different venues, this time Marian Academy, in an attempt to spark interest and attract new blood to the sport.”
In terms of support, he also revealed that the “business community, the association (Guyana Table Tennis Association) and the media have so far been very supportive of our events which goes a long way in helping to identify and nurture talent and spread the sport and keep it vibrant”.
The tournament, scheduled for Marian Academy over two days (September 8-9), has received sponsorship from Red Cross Guyana, Guyana Beverages Inc. through the Viva Water Brand, Netsurf Telecom, Beacon Snackette, Metro, Power Producers & Distributors Inc., General Industrial Supplies & Enterprise, the Outar family, Paul David (USA-based player/coach), the GTTA, Woodpecker Products and Marian Academy.
The Titans Table Tennis Club, which is organising the tournament, was founded in October of 2011 by Dick who is a former National player and is currently a senior coach at the club.
