Brilliance of Van Lange, John highlights 2nd night’s play

National Seniors Table Tennis Championships…

By Timothy Jaikarran

Night two of the National Seniors Table Tennis Championships being contested at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall saw matches being contested in the U21 Singles Men, “C” Class Open, “B” Class Open, and the first stage of the 21-years-and-under women’s matches.

U21 Men
In this category, the top two from each group had advanced to the next round. Hence, in the quarter-finals, the first matchup saw Elishaba John defeating Terrence Rausch 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-8); before Isaiah Layne made light work of Krystian Sahadeo, whom he defeated 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-4). Then, despite losing one match 11-6, Jonathan Van Lange bounced back to defeat Jamal Nicholas 3-1. He won their contest 11-6, 11-8, 11-4.

In the final game, Colin Wong dominated Kaysan Ninvalle 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-8) to book his spot alongside his teammates in the semifinals.
The semis saw Van Lange and John each booking their spot in the finale. Van Lange then defeated Wong 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-2); while John, although struggling against Layne, managed to come out on top 3-2 (11-8, 9-11, 11-4, 11-12, 11-8).

U21 Female
In copping the U21 female title, Jasmine Billingy made light work of U18 and U15 junior champions Crystal Melville and Thuraia Thomas.
Dominant in the group stages all the way through to the finale, the 9-year-old
Billingy defeated Thomas 3-1 (11-7, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8), before brushing aside Melville 3-0 (13-11, 11-7, 11-5). She also got past Samara Sukhai 3-1 (11-8, 7-11, 11-4, 11-7).

“C” Class Open
In the first match, Billingy brushed aside Junior Novice Champion Yuteshwar Persaud 3-1 (13-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6).
In the second match, Troy McRae won 3-1 over Abdool Aleem Rahim (11-6, 12-10, 5-11, 11-7).

In the third game, Kyle Chung made light work of Peter Persaud 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-6), while game four saw Narren Persaud brush aside Gerendra Mookram 3-1 (13-11, 6-11, 11-8, 14-12).
Heading into the semifinals, McRae booked his spot in the final after a hard-fought match against Billingy 3-2 (11-7, 12-10, 3-11, 6-11, 13-11), and Chung booked his spot after he swept Narren 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-7).

“B” Class Open
The big guns came out to battle here. Some progressed to the semifinals, while some were unable to qualify.

In the round-of-eight, John defeated Jamal Nicholas 3-2 (14-12, 11-6, 8-11, 7-11, 11-8) after a hard-fought battle. In game two, Sahadeo lost to Isaiah Layne 3-2 (11-5, 9-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5) after a close game that seemed to weigh in favour of Sahadeo.
With two games being taken to the death, Van Lange and Brandon Belle shattered all expectations when they each won their games 3-1. Van Lange won his game against Colin Wong (11-4, 7-11, 14-12, 11-6), while Belle defeated Ninvalle 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6) to culminate the evening of play.