Guyana performed “fairly good” at Caribbean C/ships

Apr 11, 2012 Sports

– GTTA General Secretary, Munroe believes

By Edison Jefford

The General Secretary of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) and three-time National

Chelsea Edghill

Champion, Godfrey Munroe, believes the national junior table tennis team that returned from the Caribbean Championships in Cuba yesterday performed well enough.
In an invited comment, Munroe said that the team performed “fairly good” given the fact that the Guyanese are not exposed domestically to the extremely high level of the Cubans and Dominican Republicans especially in the competition that attracted strong participation.
“I would like to reiterate that I believe the results were fairly good considering those factors such as our players competing against higher financed, and more exposed players, and the absence of some of our more seasoned players,” Munroe told Kaieteur Sport.
He said that in the respective categories, Girls 18-Years-and-Under, Adielle Roshuevel, Ambrose Thomas and Brad and Brando Belle and Denzil Duff in the Boys 18-Years-and-Under were not among the team to strengthen Guyana’s chances of doing much better.
Guyana competed against players from Cuba, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba Jamaica, Curacao, St. Martin and Suriname at Caribbean’s & Regional Table Tennis Federation (CRTTF) Cadet & Junior Championship in La Habana, Cuba.
Munroe said that the management of the team had said that the camp before the Championships was a success and gave an indication that Guyana’s medal tally could be much better if they had fielded teams in the Girls 18-Years and 15-Years-and-Under categories.
However, he lauded the performance of Chelsea Edghill, who picked up her second medal at this level, a silver medal in the 15-Years-and-Under singles competition. She had won gold two years ago in the Under-13 group and has shown consistent growth regionally.
“What would be required immediately for Chelsea is to get an International Olympic Solidarity scholarship or funding/sponsorship, which would ensure she gets to attend high yielding training camps and play on the international junior circuit for much more exposure,” Munroe indicated.
He said that if that is not done, as Edghill grows and the age difference grows wider between her and her regional peers, she will become less and less competitive. Munroe believes that Edghill’s management should consider the option of exposing the athlete more.
Below is a full synopsis of how Guyana performed in Cuba at the Caribbean Championships, beginning with Guyana’s performance in the 15-Years-and-Under Boys Team and Singles competitions:

Akecia Nedd

Guyana beat Aruba 3-0 after Joseph Jonson defeated Allan Croes 11-4, 11-3 and 11-7; Shemar Britton defeated Dirche Valentino 11-9, 11-3 and 11-8; Bryton Murray ended proceedings for the Guyanese trio against Jean Pierre with an 11-7, 11-7 and 11-5 win.
The team then faced Jamaica defeating them 3-0 after Britton defeated Darren Chamber 11-7, 14-12, 10-12, 9-11 and 15-13; Johnson narrowly lost to Simon Ho-On 8-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9 and 10-12; Elishaba Johnson defeated Sean Wilson 11-8, 13-11, 8-11, 8-11 and 11-6; Britton closed proceedings with 11-6, 9-11,11-9 and11-6 win.
Guyana then lost to the might of Dominican Republic team with Murray losing 0-3 to Emanuel Lazano; Joseph Johnson losing 0-3 to Andre Bertencia 3-0 and Britton in a remarkable contest defeated Jefferson Almazar 3-1.
The Guyanese also lost to Cuba’s ‘B’ team and Trinidad and Tobago by 3-0 margins; the Guyana U-15 Boy’s team finished fifth behind the Dom Republic, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago and Cuba ‘A’. Jamaica, Aruba and Suriname took the other positions.
Shemar Britton advanced as the second placed player from Group Three to the Round-of-16 and in the process he defeated Sean Wilson from Jamaica 3-0 and Jean-Pierre Helmeyer. His only lost in the group stage came against eventual champion, Cuba’s Livian Martinez.
In the Round-of-16, he lost to Enzenat Lazaro from Cuba 3-1. Joshua Lalbachan, Elishaba Johnson, Joseph Johnson and Bryton Murray did not advance from the group stage they both finished third in their groups.
In the 18-Years-and-Under Team’s, Doubles and Singles competitions, playing without Brad and Brandon Belle, the Guyana Boys U-18 team was reduced to David Duncan, Sachin Panday, Stefan Corlette and Sunil Logan.
Duncan, a defensive player, had a remarkable Championships picking up games against Cuba Dominican Republic and along with Sachin Panday were the only two players to advance out of the group stages in the singles edition competition.
Guyana defeated Aruba 3-0; Corlette beat Shain Cian 3-0; Panday defeated Lifen Dylampe 3-2;
Duncan defeated Cendric Vander Linde 3-0;
Guyana lost to Jamaica 3-0 with Duncan losing to Nicolas Mahfoo 2-3; Corlette lost to Glenfort McDonald 3-0 and Panday lost 2-3 to Samuel Rickettes. However, Guyana bounced back and quickly dismissed Surinam 3-0 in this competition.
But the strength of the Spanish-speaking teams continued to plague Guyana when the Dominican Republic whipped them 3-0 with Duncan losing David Vila 0-3; Panday losing to Issac Vila 0-3 and Logan losing to Richard Pichardo 1-3.
Cuba then defeated Guyana 3-1 when Corlette lost to Frank Hector Sola 11-3, 11-7 and 11-4 but Duncan kept them in the hunt with a 9-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-6 and 12-10 win against Reiner Betincia Corvia; however, Panday lost 3-0 to Yisrell Montalvo and Duncan lost 11-2, 11-4, 9-11 and 11-7 to Frank Hector Sola.
Guyana again finished fifth in the Under-18 Boys competition behind the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Cuba, Jamaica and Guyana. Suriname, Aruba and Curacao took the other positions behind Guyana.
In the Boys’ 18-Years-and-Under doubles competition, Panday and Duncan advanced to the quarterfinals while the other pairs lost in the first round.
In the singles competition, Panday playing out of Group One, advanced as the second placed player in his group; he defeated Lindriche Vanderlinde from Aruba 3-0 with his only lost in the group stage coming against Cuba’s Frank Hector Sola.
He lost in the Round-of-16 to Jean Paul Barrayo 3-0; Duncan also advanced from Group Seven after he defeated Michael Kelly from Aruba 3-0 and Yang Zhen Fu 3-1. His only group lost in the group came against Ernesto Martinez.
He lost to the Dominican Republic’s Issac Vila 3-0 in the Round-of-16. Stefan Corlette and Sunil Logan placed third in their group matches and did not advance to the knockout stage.
In the Girls’ 18-Years-and-Under Singles competition, Akecia Nedd lost in the quarterfinal stage to Cuba’s Yuensi Diaz 3-1 in the group stage. She defeated Maibi Ferro 3-2 to advance out of the fourth group.