Youth in Focus…Ninvalle brothers, table tennis marksmen

Jun 22, 2014 Sports

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By Zaheer Mohamed
Guyana has seen its fair share of siblings who have represented this country in sports disciplines.

Brothers Khalil Jaffar Ninvalle and Kaysan Jamil Ninvalle are the latest to join that distinguished list.
The two have been making waves on the local table tennis scene and have impressed even the staunchest critics with their style, dedication and discipline.
In fact national coach Linden Johnson is adamant that the siblings have special talent and will be a force to reckon with.
“Both Khalil and Kaysan are two very talented and special athletes. They are also very disciplined and have dominated their respective categories. The sky is the limit once they remain focused,” Coach Johnson said.
In the last two years Khalil and Kaysan have placed vice-like grips on the Under-13 and Under-9 division respectively and had their first taste of International competition last year when they represented Guyana in the Caribbean Pre Cadet tournament.
In a recent interview with Kaieteur Sports 13-year-old Khalil, the elder of the two reasoned that while his professional ambition is to become a medical doctor, he also dreams of one day representing Guyana at the Olympics.
Unlike many of the current tennis players the brothers are not in a club. They however, practice against each other on a daily basis at home. “I think that that has allowed us to get better at what we do. We both love the game and can play whenever there is the need to, as we have the facilities right at home,” Khalil declared.
Born on January 30, 2001, Khalil explained that he had his first taste of table tennis some seven years ago when a good friend of his father Mark Young presented him with a table.
“Uncle Mark gave us the table and from time to time would come to play with us. He would beat me soundly then, but now I am able to repay him on the table,” Khalil joked.
A year after starting, Khalil was winning novices titles and was urged by his parents Steve and Noela to seriously consider taking up table tennis. With Khalil’s exploits Kaysan gravitation to the sport was a natural progression.
Younger by four years, Kaysan was a quick learner and took less time than his brother to stamp his authority on the national scene. An aggressive player, Kaysan is known to play from Under-9 to Under-21 unperturbed.
This has not escaped the eyes of the national coach. According to Johnson the younger Ninvalle is being considered for the prestigious World Hope Selection, a one year scholarship programme offered by world governing body of table tennis.
To date their most outstanding achievement of both brothers was securing silver and bronze medals at the Caribbean Pre Cadet Tournaments last year and most recently Khalil won Gold in the U-13 singles and bronze in the U-15 division in the national Independence competition.
He was also the U-13 gold medalist in the 2014 Mashramani tournament after overcoming another talented player Terence Rausch in the final.
In 2013 he copped three gold medals in the U-13 division in a local competition and was the top player in the U-11 segment in 2010 where he won two golds.
Khalil, a second form student of Mae’s School, said his aim is to do better in 2014 and is looking forward to being selected for the Pre Cadet Championship that is scheduled for Puerto Rico.
“It will be a lot of hard work as it is not sports alone. I still have to balance it with my school work. Right now I have been taken off tennis because my end of term exams is coming up. It’s a challenge but I am up to it,” the elder Ninvalle disclosed.
“I think that my parents understand there is a need for both academic and sport to create roundness in the lives of young people and that’s why I have been allowed to keep on playing tennis.”
Kaysan, the current U-9 champion who also wants to be a medical doctor is yet to receive a serious challenge to his throne. In the 2014 Independence Cup he easily won the U-9 singles and missed out of a repeat in the U-11 where he placed second to nemesis Niron Bissu. Moving up another division, he secured a bronze medal in the U-13.
One year earlier, he turned in a sterling performance in the 2013 GTTA tournaments winning three golds and two silvers.
“I look at a lot of videos. I study the styles of the international players. I want to represent Guyana at the Olympics one day,” Kaysan said.  He is also very cognizant of the fact that there can be no sport without academics.
“We are always reminded that our school work is very important and what would happen if we slip up. I don’t plan to slip up in school work or in tennis,” Kaysan, a Grade Four pupil of Mae’s School, declared.
The Ninvalles expressed gratitude to coaches Muniram and Linden Johnson who have piloted their early years in the sport and to their ‘globe-trotting’ uncles Andy and Cassius who have been extremely supportive and Grandmother Claire, who is behind them all the way.

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