Guyanese women beat Martinique; topple Dom Rep in CRTTF opener

Aug 28, 2013 Sports

-Youthful Men’s team lose to Trinidad

Guyana’s national women’s table tennis team yesterday toppled Martinique in their first match in the Caribbean Regional Table Tennis Federation (CRTTF) Championships in St. Lucia, and then went on to topple favourites, Dominican Republic last evening.
Last year’s Under-21 bronze medallist, Chelsea Edghill, started the Guyanese 3-0 route when she

Trenace Lowe

thrashed Ginetta Remion 11-5, 11-4 and 11-6; United States-based seasoned campaigner Trenace Lowe then followed that up with an 11-4, 11-5 and 11-1 win against Corinne Pharose before they sealed the first round triumph via Nathalie Cummings’ 11-1, 11-2 and 11-6 win against Kelly-Ann Heloise.
The Women’s team then returned to beat the super-powerful table tennis nation, Dominican Republic 3-2 that set them on course to top their group that also included Guadeloupe, which they played last night.
Senior debutant, Akeicia Nedd is also a part of the Guyanese team, currently playing at the 55th Senior Caribbean Table Tennis Championships at the Beausejour Indoor Stadium. Winning their group will likely place them against Barbados or Trinidad and Tobago in the semi-finals en-route to the Caribbean title.
However, Guyana’s Men’s team, which the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) referred to as “developmental”, went down to Trinidad and Tobago 0-3 in their first round encounter last evening in St Lucia. In a GTTA official release, it was noted that the association fielded a young developmental team without Paul David and Christopher Franklin.
The local team includes Nigel Bryan, Edinho Lewis, Joel Alleyne, Nigel Bryan and in addition to playing the Men’s team event, Doubles and Mixed Doubles competitions will also play in the 21 years and under division prospects of medalling are seemingly high.
Speaking to Kaieteur Sport yesterday, GTTA President, Godfrey Munroe said that Franklin and David

Chelsea Edghill

had other commitments with David requesting financial assistance from the association to make the trip a reality. Munroe said that the association could not assist him.
“It was more shrewd or prudent to go with a development team. It was basically a decision that I had to make. The other thing is, we have to look at avenues of exposing other players. These are basically the future; we have to start looking at succession,” Munroe said.
The GTTA Head believes that the association would be in dire straits to implement transitions at a time when the seasoned campaigners decide to “call it a day”. He strongly believes that process has to start now and as such invested in youth at the Caribbean Championships. (Edison Jefford)