The Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) has scheduled the restart of training sessions to this month, and possibly the hosting of a few domestic tournaments thereafter.
However, with the contention that 2020 has been a loss with regards to participation in regional competitions, the Association has shifted focus to what will be a packed 2021 programme.
Prior to COVID-19, 2020 was pegged to be an extremely busy year with numerous regional events and Olympic Qualification tournaments.
According to President of the GTTA, Godfrey Munroe, the International Table Tennis Association (ITTF) will make a definitive determination by August 31 on their possible restart and what tournaments will officially be shifted to 2021.
However, he is doubtful any will occur for the rest of the year, which basically shifts the focus to 2021.
“So far all the events have been cancelled and the reason is due to the travel restrictions. In terms of their mandates, they are looking at rescheduling to November but some of the events like the World Championships and Olympic trials have been moved to 2021.”
Guyana’s senior women’s team has qualified for the World Championships and Munroe said they will have to look at innovative ways of finding funding to get South Korea for those Championships, which are now scheduled for February 27 to March 7.
In the interim, Munroe hopes the players can capitalise on this period to develop their skills. From August 10, players will resume training in groups of four.
The GTTA President indicated that the grassroot programme in schools has been affected and the Association will be strategising how they can operate in this new reality.
The Association had intended for Cuban Coach, Osdani Romero Garcia, to return but are now unsure when he will be allowed to do such.
Munroe further indicated they have also used ‘downtime’ to iron out issues with their national selection policy, coaching provisions, players’ media engagements and revenue generation plans.
