Pandemic badly affected Table Tennis says National Coach Johnson

Dec 27, 2020 Sports

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It’s important for players to start preparing for 2021

By Sean Devers

The Covid-19 Pandemic forced a Global shut down of all sports and Table Tennis in Guyana was no exception when the Guyana lockdown was instituted in March.
According Linden Johnson, who was appointed National Table Tennis Coach in 2003 when he coached the National Cadet team’s boys and girls to two silvers and a pair of bronze Medals in Cuba, the pandemic hit Table Tennis hard and only three tournaments were held this year.
“We (GTTA) only managed to host three tournaments in 2020 with the junior’s and Cadet Table Tennis Championships in January, the Senior National Championships in February and the Forbes Burnham Memorial tournament which was also held in February before the Corona Virus arrived here,” informed the 58-year-old Johnson.
In the junior’s and Cadet tournament; Yuteshwar Persaud won the boys Novice, while Samirah Burrowes took the Girls Intermediate title, Thuraia Thomas won the Girls U-15, while National U-15 Cricketer Jonathan Van Lange captured the Boys U-15 title.
Cristal Melville won the U-18 Girls, while Van Lange, playing with a fractured finger in a cast, won the Boys U-18s to finish with two Gold Medals.
In the Senior National Championships, Kyle Chung won the Women’s ‘C’ class U-21 title while Elishaba Johnson took the ‘B’ class Open with the talented Van Lange copping the Silver Medal. Christopher Franklyn won the Men’s Singles, while Natalie Cummings was top of the pack in the Women’s Singles.
In the Forbes Burnham Memorial tournament, Narren Persaud took the ‘C’ class Open Singles while Elishaba Johnson won the ‘B’ class Open Singles. Johnson returned to capture his second Gold Medal when he won the U-21 Open title. Orin Hickeson won the Singles Open.

The Pandemic resulted in the cancelation of international and local tournaments which were scheduled for this year.
“At home, the Mini/Pre Cadet Nationals which was set for March 2020, hosting of the Caribbean Hopes Camp and Caribbean Mini/Pre Cadet in August also had to be cancelled.
On the International front the Caribbean Cadets and Juniors Championships in the Dominican Republic set for March, the Latin American Olympic Qualifier and the Caribbean Senior Championship in Cuba which were fixed for last April were all cancelled.
Table Tennis is considered a non-contact sport and after six months of inactivity, the GTTA got the green light in August to resume training in small numbers while adhering to the COVID-19 guidelines.
“Most of the players are working on training and are eager to get back into action because just continuing to train without getting to compete could be disheartening.
According to Johnson, the International Table Tennis Federation’s (ITTF) guidelines focus is mainly on health and safety on the athletes who have shown the intentions to participate, they also want them to completely obey the guidelines that surround the hosting of any event in the Pandemic with adherence the rules set out by WHO, the Covid Task Force and the Ministry of Health.
Apart from the Pandemic, Johnson lamented that the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) faced several Challenges like a home for the Sport, Elite support for National Team and team members, financial support for Coaches, Human Resources Personal and Club structure, sponsorship for National Teams and more administrative support.
“My vision for Table Tennis is to make it a truly National sport where every Guyanese will play. The aim is to decentralise the sport with its ‘Table Tennis for schools’ programme’ which will see every primary and Secondary School in the Country equipped with a Table Tennis Table, four Racquets and a net. This has already started, Johnson said.
Looking towards the future, Johnson, who is responsible for the Table Tennis Development in Guyana, the Management and coordination of all tournament activities in Guyana, disclosed that the GTTA recently met with Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jr. and revealed some of the projects to be undertaken by the GTTA.
He listed nine programmes to be undertaken by the local table Tennis body which is headed former Caribbean Champion Godfrey Munroe.
1: National Table Tennis for Schools Project to continue with of teachers and providing equipment.
2: Building a home for Table Tennis
3: Exchange programme with China and Cuba. Training National players in a high quality environment. Provision of training for Coaches to go and learn from their systems
4: Development of the Club structure
5: Stag International grants, equipment and team uniform and sponsorship once every two years to continue.
6: Decentralization of the Sport
7: Hosting of more International and local tournaments
8: Engagement with department of Education
9: Collaboration with the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA)
“It’s important for the players…local and International… to get back into action since there are few important tournaments scheduled for 2021 such as the National Pre Cadet, National Cadets/ Juniors, National Seniors, Caribbean Mini/ Pre Cadets, Caribbean Cadet/Junior and the Olympic Qualifiers/ National Senior Championships,” concluded Johnson, who is married and has three children.

 

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