A table tennis icon in Guyana and the USA, George ‘The Chief’ Braithwaite died yesterday at the age of 86 in the USA.

Braithwaite, who worked at the United Nations and who won the Caribbean men’s singles title in 1979, also represented the US at the Nagoya World Championships and was a member of the historic “Ping Pong Diplomacy” group.

He was the United States Table Tennis Association (USTTA) Goodwill Ambassador to Central America, where he played exhibition matches and coached as well.

He was also selected as a member of the United States team to the World Table Tennis Championship in Nagoya, Japan.

Braithwaite was the Vice President of the US Table Tennis Federation.

Among the long list of achievements for Braithwaite, he’s a USATT Certified National Table Tennis Coach, an inductee in the USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame, USATT Life Time Achievement Awardee, and is a Caribbean Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles Champion representing Guyana.

He was also honored by the US Olympic Committee as the Olympian Magazine Amateur Athlete of the year.

Meanwhile, president of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA), Godfrey Munroe, said Braithwaite’s contribution to the sport of tennis in Guyana and the USA will never be matched.

Munroe can only describe the legendary player as an ‘icon’, telling Chronicle Sport that even that moniker cannot properly describe Braithwaite and his impact on the game in Guyana and especially in the USA.  (Rawle Toney)