THE Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) and the Chinese government, last Thursday, sat down for a meeting to discuss the sport’s shared vision and continued partnership between the two entities.

Mr. Chen Xilai, Deputy Chief of the Embassy, invited club president, Godfrey Munroe, and team to discuss overseas and local training stints for players at all levels at high yield training centres in China in 2023 as well as training opportunities for officials.

The discussion also included having high-level coaches visit Guyana to work with national teams, technical support and combined efforts on projects which will be geared to impact the livelihood of members of communities.

Several other initiatives were discussed including a goodwill tournament similar to the one held last year to celebrate 50 years of bilateral engagement between the two nations.

A review of some initiatives inclusive of the donation of equipment to the national programme and the schools programme in partnership with the Ministry of Education was presented by the GTTA president.

Mr Munroe also took the opportunity to convey greetings on behalf of the Minister of Education, the Hon. Priya Manickchand.

According to Munroe, the Minister is keen on having China’s support for expanding the national table tennis schools project as part of the Ministry’s plan to have each student exiting the schools system exposed and oriented to sports, languages and knowing how to play at least one musical instrument .

Mr. Chen shared a quote which forms part of the Chinese philosophy “It is joyful to play alone but it’s more joyful to play with others”