By Sean Devers
FORTY-nine-year-old former National Tennis player and Guyana Coach Shelly Daly-Ramdyhan is making a positive impact in developing Lawn Tennis in Guyana to International standards but her work is far from done in working from the Nursery up at the Sheltez Tennis Club.
“We concluded the U10s event on Monday at the GBTI Court where two levels were used, Red and Orange balls.
In the Red Ball, 16 girls and 12 boys participated. In the orange category, seven girls and eight boys participated. We played over three days using two locations. They played over 30 matches. Overall, it was the first time we’ve had turnout of participants in that category. The U14s will begin this weekend and is expected to be very exciting.
In the Red Ball tournament, Jordyn Sears emerged the girl’s winner with the runners-up being Breyanna Younge. Fatheya Hakim ended third while Diamond Graham placed fourth.
The boy’s winner was Michael Fordyce with the runners-up being Mukang Yi while Mathew Kristyanto and Fateh Hakim were third and fourth respectively.
Coach Shelly spoke about the recent trip to the U-14 Powerade COTECC tournament in Barbados.
“In Barbados, our three players; Elwyn Levius, Jose Rodrigues and Sihlelewe Marakalla participated and Elwyn qualified for the main draw but lost to Ahil Cyril of St. Lucia in the first round of the main draw,” disclosed Coach Shelly.
Jose and Sihlelewe were placed in the consolation draw, Jose lost in the first round and Sihlelewe won against Barbadian Janae Lane. She went on to the semi-finals but lost against the number 1 seed, Trinidadian Anya Romany,” added Coach Shelly, who was National Champion for five successive years from 1993.
“For me, I am pleased with the players’ performances, Elwyn is the most experienced player but didn’t compete at the international level since 2021.
Jose and Sihlelewe are new players, playing for less than a year and showing great potential. The exposure for them is important, because they saw the level of players from countries that are playing and competing regularly,” informed Coach Shelly.
“The lack of training time and facility continue to be of great concern for our players,” lamented the Coach.
“If I’m to compare tennis back then to now, I would say that the level is much higher and the opportunities are much more available for players.
The players back then didn’t have a lot of opportunities compared to now…most players, if they travelled then, did it with their parents but the level was very good.
The players now are more exposed to international tournaments because of our structure in the clubs and association,” explained Coach Shelly.
Shelly informed that Guyana’s affiliation with the ITF allows the team to participate in team events and circuit tournaments throughout the year once they can afford to attend.
