CNOOC-GTTA-MoE National Schools Table Tennis Championships: Rosignol Secondary emerge as champions at Region 5 competition

Following a series of entertaining games on Thursday, February 13, Rosignol Secondary secured championship status when the Region Five edition of the CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited-Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA)-Ministry of Education (MoE) National Schools Table Tennis Championships got underway.

Held at the auditorium of Bygeval Secondary School, Mahaica, the stage was set for an exciting day of table tennis competition, which truly stimulated, showcased the talent and created potential for growth of the sport in the region, in addition to fostering a thirst and appetite for more table tennis activities across the region.

Brimming with enthusiastic players were the registered schools, namely: Rosignol Secondary, Bygeval Secondary, Bush Lot Secondary, Belladrum Secondary and Mahaicony Secondary. The tournament was coordinated through support from the Regional Department of Education through Regional Education Officer (REDO) Celeste La Rose; Sir Mahendra Salik; Sir Kevon of Rosignol Secondary; the Head teacher of Bygeval Secondary, and Regional Chair Sadiek Ishmael.
The competition was played in the boys’ singles (18 and 15 years and under); girls’ singles (18 years and under) and the open team event. This saw about 50 entries in the singles and team competitions. International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and Umpire/Coach Candacy Mc Kenzie performed the role as tournament director. In the end, Rosignol Secondary proved themselves worthy of the title champions’ when they won most of the categories.
Complete results are as follows: (Winners in bold)
Results Boys 18 Years and Under
Round of 16
Nathan Karachand v Gavin Deolall 2-0 (11-3,1-5)
Antwon Edmonds v Joel Gordon 2-0 (11-3,11-5)
Ethan Watson v Javid Sawh 2-0 (11-6,11-5)
Vijay Kalpu v Fidel Millington 2-0 (11-6,11-7)
Lakeraj Hemraj v Danesh Persaud 2-0 (11-4, 11-1)
Mikel Clark v Imran Resat 2-0 (11-5,11-8)
Aslam Khan v Reynaldo Mc Crae 2-0 (11-6,11-8)
Aaron Etwaru v Zackery Favorite 2-0 (11-9,11-9)

Quarter-finals
Nathan Karachand v Antwon Edmonds (11-7,11-6)
Vijay Kalpu v Ethan Watson (11-4,11-5)
Lakeraj Hemraj v Mikel Clark (11-6,11-8)
Aaron Etwaru v Aslam Khan (11-8,11-9)

Semi-finals
Nathan Karachand v Vijay Kalpu (11-7,7-11,12-10)
Lakeraj Hemraj v Aaron Etwaru (11-6,11-8)

Final
Nathan Karachand v Lakeraj Hemraj (11-7,11-6)

Girls 18 Years and Under Round-Robin Finals
Competitors:
Kiara Hamilton
Marcia Joseph
Tiffany Bailey
Divyana Narine
Lilyana Haroon
Oscehia Harry

1st place – Divyanna Narine
2nd place – Kiara Hamilton
3rd place – Lilyana Haroon
3rd place – Oscehia Harry

Boys 15 Years and Under
Joel Gordon v Devonte Vaux (11-9,11-8)
Akeem Barnes v Jushawn Maxwell (11-9,11-7)
Akeem Barnes v Joel Gordon (9-11,11-7,11-8)

1st place – Akeem Barnes
2nd place – Joel Gordon
3rd place – Jushawn Maxwell
3rd place – Devonte Vaux

Team Events Finals
Rosignol Secondary v Bygeval Secondary
Lakeraj Hemraj v Zackney Fuvainte (11-5,11-5)
Nathan Karachand v Vuai Kalpu (11-6,11-7)
N Karachand & L Hemraj vs V Kalpu & Z Fuvainte (11-8,11-7)

The CNOOC Petroleum-GTTA-MoE National Schools Table Tennis Championships is the first-ever nationwide schools’ table tennis championships with a concept which provides independent regional competitions held in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven and 10 and in Georgetown. They are geared towards crowning the individual region’s school team and singles champions, in view of creating regional identity, independence, prestige, incentive and motivation which will showcase all the champion teams of Guyana.
The project and sponsorship also procured and provided table-tennis tables for hinterland regions (including One, Seven, Eight and Nine), to provide training to help accelerate their development and in instances where possible, have the regions host/participate in the novices’ categories only.
These championships are critical to continuing the rich table tennis tradition and legacy of Guyana, in ensuring that the respective age group champions are crowned annually and that there is a system that continues to produce and engage players at the school level as a basis to providing a feeder system for talent development and national representation.
The competition sets the following as its key objectives and aims:
•Serve as an incubator and provide the opportunity for new talents to have an active platform to showcase and expose their talents and represent their schools.
•Re-establish school championships as a basis for the GTTA’s development thrust by having more players actively participate in table tennis activities, both recreationally and competitively.
•Re-establish an active framework for school competitions through School League, Team Linkages of players to clubs regional hubs.
•Serve as a catalyst for creating a talent identification development and incubation systems for the recruitment, training, orientation, development and teaching of lifelong learned skills which will positively enhance the profile and marketability of the sport and impact higher performances and sustainability of the sport at the national and international level.
•Identify, recruit and train the best student-athletes/students from participating schools who exhibit the potential for growth in view of selecting the best talents for training and high-performance programmes of the GTTA and for selection as possible prospects for national team representation.
•Formation of school team clubs that will compete in inter-house, inter-school, regional and national championships in different age group categories and levels
•Partner with regional education departments, sponsors and other stakeholders to establish relations and structures for the continued development and support of the sport.