THE Novices Division and Doubles will serve off the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) National Junior and Cadet TT Championships from this morning at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

According to information from the president of the association, Godfrey Munroe, a number of seasoned players are carded to compete, including defending Cadet and Junior champion Jonathan Van Lange, and female Junior and Cadet champions, Crystal Melville and Thuraia Thomas.

The Novices will play from 10:00hrs to 13:00hrs, while the Boys’ Open Doubles, Girls’ Open Doubles and Mixed Doubles will also start early.

In the afternoon, the Boys and Girls 15 years-and-under singles and the Boys and Girls 19 years-and-under singles will serve off. Those games are expected to be concluded tomorrow.

Unlike previous years, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) decided to extend the age range for the Junior age division from U18 to 19-and-under in 2022 to facilitate those players who would have been hampered due to COVID-19 restrictions.

This weekend’s event is the first of three weekends of action, with the C Class, B Class and U21 (men’s and women’s divisions) set for January 29-30, before the Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles are played from February 5 to 6.

When the Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships was last played in 2020, Van Lange, then 13, defeated Kaysan Ninvalle in both finals, while Melville had defeated Thomas in the then U18 event, after Thomas had defeated her in the U15 battle.

With both girls now 16, Jasmine Billingy should be one of the favourites for the female Cadet title.