–Dominant Van Lange will look to make his mark

THE high-level performance by 15-year-old Jonathan Van Lange in the 2022 National Table Tennis Championships has pushed him up the order in his quest to challenge for the coveted Men’s Singles title.

More than likely it would either be three-time defending champion, Christopher Franklin or former Caribbean U-21 champion, Shemar Britton, who would win the title, but after winning the U-21 title, the ‘B’ class title and the Men’s Doubles title with Britton over the weekend, Van Lange would go into next weekend’s Men’s single as a legitimate contender.

Although he is probably a year or two away from seriously challenging for the title, his performance throughout the championships would give him the push to battle hard and possibly create a few upsets.

The Men’s Singles was originally expected to take place on Sunday last, but due to a large number of participants (36), it was postponed to February 12-13.
On Saturday, the preliminary rounds are expected to take place, while from Sunday afternoon, the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will take place.

DOMINANCE
Late last month, Van Lange marched through the junior division, winning the Boy’s Doubles (with Niran Bissu) and the Mixed Doubles (with Jasmine Billingy), before he won the U-19 Boys singles.

Last weekend, he easily won the U-21 title, while his performance with Britton en route to the Men’s Doubles was exceptional, but it was his ‘B’ Class Open championship win against Miguel Wong that pushed him to the next level.

In that game, which was played on Sunday evening, Van Lange used his experience and calculated strokeplay to bounce back from a game down to beat Wong 4-2 (7-11, 13-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8 and 11-3).

To reach the final, he defeated Devon Richmond (12-10, 11-6, 11-8, 11-13, 8-11, 11-5) in the round of 16; Warren Hackshaw 4-0 (11-3, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6) in the quarter-final; and Krystian Sahadeo 4-0 (11-7, 12-10, 11-4, 11-9) in the semi-final.

Wong, on the other hand, had defeated Ebo McNeil 5-2 (11-4, 12-10, 11-6, 7-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5) in the round of 16; Levi Percival 4-1 (11-5, 11-6, 11-6, 9-11 and 11-5) in the quarter-final; and his younger brother Colin Wong 4-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-5 and 11-4) in the semi-final.
Colin Wong and Sahadeo were adjudged joint third-place winners.

FEMALE BATTLE
Chelsea Edghill, who did not participate in the 2020 National Championships, easily disposed of defending champion, Natalie Cummings in the final of the event on Sunday evening. Edghill, an Olympian, has continuously improved over the years and was a strong favourite for the title this year.

That game finished 4-0 (11-2, 11-4, 11-4 and 11-7).

In the semi-finals of the event, Edghill defeated Priscilla Greaves 4-0 (11-4, 11-4, 11-2, 11-3), while Cummings disposed of Crystal Melville 4-0 (11-3, 11-3, 11-5 and 11-3).

Melville and Greaves finished joint third.

‘C’ Class Battle
In 2019, former Isa Islamic School student, Saalih Rahim, had finished second in the Open Boys’ Rookie/Novices Singles, this year, at the age of 17, he was able to win the ‘C’ Class Open.

In the clash on Sunday evening, he came from two-nil down to beat Ishaka Jackman 3-2 (6-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-2).

Rahim had defeated Billingy 3-1 (11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9) in the quarter-final and Vicente Omar Henery 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-9) in the semi-final.

Jackman had gotten the better of Abdool Aleem Rahim 3-0 (11-3, 11-7, 11-8) in the quarter-final and Walter Marcus 3-2 (9-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-9).
Henery and Marcus were crowned joint third-place finishers.