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Confident Guyanese Team attends ITF Circuit
From Right: Daniel Lopes, Mark McDonald, Kalyca Fraser, Aretta Dey, Coach Shelly Daly Ramdyhan, Hemraj Resaul, Ariel Khan, Jordan Beaton, Nicola Ramdyhan and Keenan Persaud after a practice session.
A Guyanese team embarked this weekend to make their mark at an International Tennis Federation (ITF) competition in the twin islands of Trinidad & Tobago. The team left last Friday and will be playing qualifying matches during the weekend to make it into the main draw, which will be played between August 17th to 22nd at Shaw Park Tennis Facility, Tobago. Coach Shelly Daly Ramdhyan has great expectations for the team especially the under14s. She noted that the U18s will be tougher since they need to win at least three matches to gain entry into the main draws but is still demanding everyone to play to their best.
The nine members representing Guyana comprises from the Boys U14: Jordan Beaton, Hemraj Resaul, Keenan Persaud, Mark McDonald and new comer Ariel Khan; Boys U18: Daniel Lopes; Girls U14: Kalyca Fraser; Girls U18: Nicola Ramdyhan and Aretta Dey.
Higher expectations are placed on the U14s especially Kenan Persaud and Hemraj Resaul whom had a good run last ITF competition as they were able to book a spot in the finals. Mark McDonald is also one to keep an eye out for as he is riding the confidence of being 2015 GBTI Boys U18 winner. Ariel Khan makes his ITF debut and he did note that he is a little nervous but excited to compete.
Lopes, who is the U18 Boys #1, will play his first U18 ITF match. He relayed the level will be tougher but has prepared mentally and tactically. “The matches are more mental, tactical and physical because everyone hits the ball harder, run faster so I have to be more prepared.”
His mixed doubles partner, Aretta Dey, will showcase her skills after a two-year hiatus from the ITF circuit. “I worked on my serves and ground strokes. The recovery is slow but winning the GBTI mixed doubles has given me more confidence.”
Resaul noted that there are good players but is training to better his results. “I tried to get more court time and push in 6 hours of training everyday.” He aims to take the U14 title.
Coach Shelly said, “The readiness is there because of the GBTI tournament and P&P Camps which would have given them a competitive boost and a higher competitive level. They had intense training right down to the end.” She did point out the main limitation of preparing for international tournaments which is the lack of an excellent playing surface. Despite not getting on better surfaces earlier, she is grateful to GBTI and Harry Panday for allowing the team to conduct practice matches at their facilities.
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