– Wong cruises to U-18 crown
Kaysan Ninvalle and Jonathan Van Lange produce what was arguably the most compelling and heated match before the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) Cadet and Junior Championships came to a close on Sunday at the National Gymnasium.
Miguel Wong (left) hardly broke a sweat during his under-18 final with Niron Bissu
Both players pushed each other to the limit in a tight battle of attrition but the burly built Ninvalle had the finishing touches to win the boys’ 13 and under title. Nicknamed “Baby faced Assassin”, the 12 year-old pressured Van Lange’s fore-arm play to steal some cheeky points. Van Lange had his moments during some long and looping rallies which tested Ninvalle’s patience. In the end, the thriller went 11-4, 10-12, 11-5 and 13-11.
One of the marque national players Miguel Wong hardly broke a sweet as he won the under-18 in straight sets by easily disposing of Niron Bissu 11-7, 11-8 and 11-2 .
Van Lange returned to challenge Bissu for the under-15 crown but still could not produce the finishing touches on the last hurdle. Bissu won 11-5, 11-8, 7-11, 11-13 and 11-8 while in the 11 and under Collin Wong soared to 11-6, 7-11, 11-6 and 11-7 over Dhanesh Peraud; Ebo McNeil and Malachi Moore jointly finished in third place.
Due to a small number of entries, the girls category was played on a round-robin basis which saw Thuria Thomas win the under-13 ahead of Nkechi McRae and Rose-Anna Saunders. For 11 and under, Akera Watson, Jasmin Bellgeny and Samara Sukhai rounded-off the top three; 9 and under saw Watson, Bellgeny and Quanna Torrington take the top spots.
The girls double had the duo of Thomas and Shania Barrow coming from behind to win 5-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9 and 11-9 against Tatyana Mohamed and McRae while for the boys Ninvalle and Van Lange formed an alliance but went down to Bissu and Ashish Persaud 7-11, 11-8, 8-11 and 9-11.
Mixed doubles went in favour of Bissu and Thomas who dismantled the duo of Jamal Nicholas and McRae 12-10, 8-11, 11-6, 5-11 and 11-4.
The tournament which spanned three days formed the initial phase of preparation for the regional junior and cadet championships which are scheduled for April 2 to 10 in Cuba. (Akeem Greene)
