14-member lawn tennis team depart for Cup of Guianas today
On the eve of their departure from Guyana to head into competition, the lawn tennis team’s spirits were high as the players got in their final knocks at the preparatory camp before heading to Suriname today.
The full contingent of players and Coaches pose for a photo with P&P Insurance Brokers representative after being presented with the sponsorship cheque
A team of 12 players and two coaches will venture to neighbouring Suriname to compete in the Cup of Guianas, where they will be defending their 2017 title against Suriname and French Guiana.
Guyana Times Sport caught up with one of the coaches, Shelly Daly-Ramdyhan at the National Racquet Centre, as she spoke on her expectations for this year’s competition.
“I am very confident that the team will do well; the kids are excited and ready to defend the Cup” was the Coach’s first comment regarding the competition.
However, she did express that the short preparation period had posed a difficulty for the team, stating, “I’m not too pleased with the time that we had in terms of our preparation. I know the kids are a little concerned about that, but, nevertheless, during our training, I said to them we will compact all the work into a month.”
The Coach noted that under the guidance of herself and her colleague, the team were able to pull through and put in the right amount of work to ensure that they are ready for the tournament.
Under -12 player Menikshi Jaikisson receives the sponsorship cheque from a Zico Engineering representative
“I think that we were able to do that, so it’s now to take that training into the competition and see what happens,” Daly-Ramdyhan stated.
Now with the tournament looming around the corner, it is expected that the young players would be experiencing a bit of jitters. On this note, Coach Daly-Ramdyhan explained that the task was now upon the Coaches and other chaperones to keep the participants as calm as possible, so that any feeling of doubt or nervousness would not interfere with their level of play.
“As it is now, everybody is relaxed. We try to keep them in that relaxed mode as long as we could; hopefully, when we get there and they’re all settled in and reality kicks in, we’ll try to keep them calm,” she stated.
“I think they’ll be fine,” Daly-Ramdyhan stated, expressing her confidence in their abilities.
The afternoon’s activities were made even better as two more corporate entities added to the list of sponsors who have contributed to the athletes’ trip to Suriname. The Guyana Lawn Tennis Association expressed gratitude to P&P Insurance Brokers and Zico Engineering for their timely support of the sport.
The 14-member team will depart today for Suriname and will get into competition mode from Thursday. The athletes will be playing to defend Guyana’s 2017 title from Thursday to Saturday.
The team: Under-12 — Hayden Mentore, Rashida Hardy, Ricky Romascindo, and Menikshi Jaikisson; Under-14 – Vadeanand Resaul, Saskia Akilah Jones, Jeremiah Kalekyezi, and Nandanee Ramdyhan; Under-18 – Heimraj Resaul, Afruica Gentle, Viraj Sharma, and Kalyca Fraser.
The Coaches are Daly-Ramdyhan and Orande Dainty.
