ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD Jasmine Billingy and 15-year-old Jonathan Van Lange were crowned champions of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) U-21 division when the female and male finals took place on Sunday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

For Billingy, it was a clean-sweep, since she not only defended her title (she won as a nine-year-old in 2020), but she dominated the junior groups at this year’s event, winning the 15-and-U and the 19-and-under divisions.

DOMINANCE
The Winfer Gardens Primary School student was composed against her older opponent, Thuraia Thomas, in the final of the event. She played measured and calculated strokes. The two players have solidified themselves as the best U-21 female players in the country.

Billingy had won the round-robin U-15 division while she had beaten Thomas in the U-19 final late last month.

Yesterday’s battle saw Thomas stepping up her game, but the mature stroke-play of Billingy was superior.

Nevertheless, it was a good clash between two rising stars.

Billingy led 7-5 in the opener, but Thomas through an exchange of backhand and forehand shots came back to lead 10-7. The game then went to deuce with Billingy fighting back, before Thomas prevailed 15-13.

The rest of the match belonged to the pre-teen, who bounced back with a dominant 11-3 win in the second game.

Thomas though did not give up and she stepped up her game and forced Billingy out of her rhythm. She looked like she would have won the third after leading 9-7, but her younger opponent was too classy and again forced deuce. That match ended 18-16 in favour of Billingy.

Her dominance was evident in the last game as she sealed the win 11-5.

VAN LANGE DOMINANCE
Van Lange added the U-21 title to his 2022 U-19 title with an impressive showing over Colin Wong. Wong showed fight and had his moments of glory, but it was fleeting as Van Lange was always able to adjust and make the necessary changes, which made his efforts look flawless.

The game ended 11-8, 11-3, 11-7 and 11-9.
On Saturday, Van Lange had teamed up with Shemar Britton to win the Men’s Doubles title.