Guyana’s Mini and Pre-Cadet table tennis teams are heading to next month’s Caribbean championships in the Dominican Republic with the ultimate of aim of finishing among the top seeds.
The Caribbean’s Mini and Pre-Cadet championships will be staged in Santo Domingo from August 26-31. A 16-member squad will represent Guyana at the event.
While at last year’s championships many of the players would have been debutants in the Under-11 and Under-13, they are now more seasoned and could better the two bronze medals they achieved in Jamaica.
Head Coach of the national team, Linden Johnson, said the players are currently engaged in training with the mindset to do well. Training at the National Gymnasium, Johnson explained he is seeing positive signs by the group and he hopes sponsors can come in to offer support so they can send a full contingent.
The Under-11 Boys will come from Dhanesh Persaud, Alexander DeAbru, Malachi Moore and Colin Wong, while the Under-13 Boys will be led by current national champion Jonathan Van Lange and includes 2016 gold medalist Kaysan Ninvalle, Krystian Sahadeo and Christopher Barrow.
The female Under-11 unit will feature Jasmine Billingy, Akera Watson, Samara Sukhai and Rachel Saunders, while Titans’ Thuraia Thomas will lead the female Under-13 line-up with the likes of Nkechi McRae, Tatyana Mohamed and Roze-Anna Saunders completing the team.
The significance of the championships is that it will be used to select the best two Caribbean 13 years and Under and 11 years and Under Boys and Girls to participate in the Latin American World Hopes training and competition slated for October.
