SHEMAR Britton is now the highest internationally ranked Guyanese player in history, following the release of the latest figures earlier this week.

The left-hander is now ranked at 243rd jumping 205 places from 448th in the world.

Meanwhile Portugal-based national women’s champion and Olympian Chelsea Edghill also broke the 300 mark with a 263rd ranked position.

National Men’s Champion Christopher Franklin also made significant progress and is now ranked 538th up from 1750th while Miguel Wong, Joel Alleyne and Jonathan Van Lange also saw improvements in their rankings.

These movements are based on recent results at international competitions and are significant for the sport as, according to a release from the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA), they testify to the players’ sacrifices, dedication, commitment, abilities, talent and discipline.

The release further stated, “It is also done through support provided through the Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport, the National Sports Commission, The Guyana Olympic Association, the GTTA and other private entities and public stakeholders who have supported and contributed to allow our players to participate in the engagements”.

The body publicly expressed its gratitude to those responsible, adding that they are looking forward to the continued support to maximise the potential and talents of the athletes.

The success also underscores the GTTA’s tenets grounded in a position to have our players participate in tournaments even with the constraints due to and during the pandemic.

“We believe our players have the talent to surpass these ranking positions, however what is critical is that we continue to create the environments for them to have the opportunity for regular exposure and training in view of developing their technical, tactical, physical and mental capacities as a base for sustained performance,” GTTA president Godfrey Munroe was quoted as saying.

With the Commonwealth games, Islamic games, South America senior games in addition to key World circuit events scheduled for 2022, and with the ITTF new world-ranking position going back to a merit and performance-based system, the GTTA is seeking to improve the performance trajectory.

The merit and performance system features players being rewarded for advancement in rounds of competition, given points for wins against higher ranked opponents with participation receiving minimal amount of points.