… Kaysan Ninvalle cops `B’ Class Open 

JUNIOR table tennis players, Thuraia Thomas and Jasmine Billingy along with Colin Wong, Niran Bissu, Kaysan Ninvalle, Isaiah Layne and others were among the top performers when the dust settled on the Titans Table Tennis Club’s (TTTC) ‘Play to Conquer’ Junior tournament on Monday evening.

Parents and fans were treated to two days of thrilling encounters at Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) and saw competition in the U-9, U-11, U-13, U-15 and U-18 categories as well as in the Recreational ‘B’ Class category.

On Sunday, Niran Bissu, who made a return to the sport after some months, captured the Boys’ U-15 category by playing unbeaten in the round-robin final.

He defeated second-placed Isaiah Layne 3-1 before brushing aside Isaiah Sahadeo, Joel Rajkumar and Curtis McRae, all by a 3-0 margin to complete his championship run.

Layne, whose only loss was to Bissu, settled for silver while Rajkumar and McRae shared the joint third position.

Meanwhile, the Boys’ U-11 title went to the diminutive Colin Wong who played unbeaten. He defeated one of the pre-tournament favourites, Dhanesh Persaud 2-0 and followed up with 2-0 wins over Chase Outar, Narayan Goodridge and dispatched Justin Leitch 2-1.

Jasmine Billingy continued her upward progress in table tennis by copping the U-9 Open category as she eased to victory without conceding a set. She defeated Samara Sukhai, Deja Datt, Akira Watson and Chase Outar all in straight sets, 3-0.

Watson’s only loss came in her encounter against Billingy. This earned her second place while Sukhai and Outar were joint third. Billingy also copped the Girls’ U-11 category by once again playing unbeaten in the round-robin final.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Kaysan Ninvalle, one of Guyana’s most promising table tennis prospects, captured the ‘B’ class Open category.
In the ‘B’ Class final, Ninvalle came from behind and exacted revenge on Terrence Rausch who had defeated him in the semi-finals of the U-18 category, to take the title 3-2 in an intriguing contest.

The first set went to Ninvalle 14-12 before Rausch took the next two sets 11-8, 11-9 to claim a 2-1 lead. However, Ninvalle showed maturity to claim the next two sets 11-5, 11-7 and clinch the title.

Earlier, Ninvalle had suffered a 1-3 defeat at the hands of Rausch in the Boys’ U-18 semi-final. However, Rausch was later defeated in the final by southpaw Isaiah Layne in straight sets 9-11, 8-11 and 9-11 in the final. Rausch in his semi-final had defeated Niran Bissu who shared joint third honours along with Ninvalle.

Meanwhile, the Girls’ U-18 title went to Thuraia Thomas who played unbeaten in the round-robin final. Thomas dominated her counterparts but faced a much sterner challenge from Crystal Melville in her final round match which she eventually won 3-2 after trailing 1-2. She won 11-6, 7-11, 9-11, 11-2, 11-5.

Jasmine Billingy and Aneka Phillips shared the joint third in that category.

Thomas also walked away with the Girls’ U-15 title after she defeated Melville 11-5, 11-1, 11-9 and the Girls’ U-13 title with another final win over Melville (11-8, 11-5, 11-8).

Billingy and Nicky Melville were joint third place in the Girls’ U-15 category while Billingy and Deja Datt shared joint third place in the Girls’ U-13 category.

The Boys’ U-13 title went to Dhanesh Persaud who defeated Colin Wong 3-2 in the final to settle the score. Wong had bettered Persaud in the Boys’ U-11 final on Sunday.

The tournament which was the fourth of its kind to be organised by the Titans Club was sponsored by Raj Singh Insurance Brokers, Beacon Café and SBF Petroleum.