GTTA Senior National Championships…
– Edghill holds off Johnson for “B” Class honours
By Akeem Greene
Natalie ‘Speedy’ Cummings is the new Senior National Female Table Tennis Champion, after a sublime display with the racquet at the Guyana Table Tennis Association’s (GTTA’s) Senior Championships, which continued on Sunday at the National Gymnasium.
Natalie Cummings played a superb hand on Sunday to be crowned the new Senior Female Table Tennis Champion
Heading into the championships, it was inevitable that a new champion would be crowned, since Chelsea Edghill, the former champion, was overseas; and with Trenance Lowe also out of the jurisdiction, Cumming was at the top of the pecking order to win.
The foregoing by no means takes away from her robust display, as she still had to come up against some budding talents such as Pricilla Greaves and Neveah Clarkston, who can be lethal on their day; along with fellow senior player Joday-Ann Blake.
Played on a round-robin basis, Cummings proudly represented her Titans Club by scoring six points, just enough to edge Blake on five points, while Greaves came third and Clarkston fourth.
Kyle Edghill is the “B” Class champion
The reality of it is that Cummings, a southpaw, never dropped a set for the day; and in her biggest battle, against Blake, she won 11-7, 11-8 & 12-10. Her reflexes were lightning fast and her top-spin proved to be the undoing of many.
Over in the “B” Class open, the jaw-dropping action unfolded especially in the final between Kyle Edghill and Elishaba Johnson.
Edghill, rebounded from his defeat to Shemar Britton in the 21-and-Under final and managed to topple a raging Johnson in a match which literally went down to the wire, as it went for seven sets in a brutal display of racket wielding prowess. In the end, Edghill won 4-3.
He rebounded from a 5-11 defeat to produce 11-7, 13-15, 11-9, 11-5, 8-11 and 11-9 against a fellow national player.
The semi-finals certainly gave a hint of what was to be expected between the two, as they disposed of their opponents without much of a sweat. Edghill won against Kaysan Ninvalle 12-10, 11-4, 11-5 & 11-8; while Johnson got the better of Wong 11-4, 11-7, 12-10 & 11-8.
Meanwhile, the Senior Men’s Open had only reached its round-of-16, and will continue today from 17:00h.
