NATIONAL table tennis player Natalie Cummings has departed Guyana for Brazil, where she will undergo a six-month training stint at the Jaceiri Table Tennis Club in Sao Paulo.

Natalie is in Brazil, courtesy of a six-month intern scholarship opportunity provided by Mr. Waldemir Jose Silva, the Junior President of the club, which allows her the opportunity to train and play tournaments as their representative in provincial and regional tournaments.
This is the second opportunity provided by the club to Natalie: the first was in 2014 for two (2) months, which was used to help her prepare for several international engagements.
Following her first stint, she was able to add new elements to her game and strengthen the women’s team chances with a quarter-final performance at the Commonwealth Games, when they defeated Scotland.
At the Caribbean championships they won a silver medal and Cummings feels that this stint would be truly beneficial, given that its six months which would allow her to absorb, reinforce and implement many of the elements taught.
“I’m a bit excited and feel somewhat privileged to gain acceptance and be considered a second time to benefit from such an opportunity given, they are hard to come by. I’m hoping to learn as much and develop my technical and tactical abilities, give a good account of myself and to help bolster Guyana’s women’s team chances of doing well at future international competitions.”
Cummings is the holder of a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Guyana and has expressed an interest in pursuing endeavours aimed at realising her table tennis potential, while she contemplates advanced studies and work.
The table tennis star said the coach in Sao Paulo has the reputation of being one of the best. “Brazil is looking to expand their league and has been offering internship opportunities to foreign national players.”
Her stint coupled with stints in China by Trennace Lowe and Chelsea Edghill should help the national women’s team better their silver medal performance at the 2016 Senior Caribbean Championships scheduled for September 2016 in The Dominican Republic
Brazilian players are highly ranked in the world and recently their 19-year-old Hugo Calderon won the Latin American senior men’s Title and the World Under 21 male title at the World Championships in March 2016
“The GTTA recognises that it is only through exposing our players to high-level training and competition that we can raise the level of our players and become more competitive internationally. This is the route we must take in order to remain competitive and surpass our international counterparts,” the body said in a statement.
Natalie is currently the number two ranked female player in Guyana and was runner-up to Chelsea Edghill at the Guyana 2016 National Table Tennis Championships