Home for TT, badminton on year-end completion schedule

The home for table tennis and badminton at the National Racquet Centre, Woolford Avenue, Georgetown, which was first announced back in October 2022, has been given a 2023 year-end deadline.
This is according to Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr., who touched on the subject while commissioning the tennis courts at the same Woolford Avenue facility.
“When [Guyana Table Tennis Association President] Godfrey [Munroe] met with me, he said to me that some foreign donors from another country had promised that they would build the facility here. We attempted to engage them with the hope that we would be able to get that built as part of something they had expressed a degree of interest in,” Ramson Jr stated.

The Sport Minister proceeded to disclose, “When that wasn’t forthcoming, we found the money. We found the money, we made the commitment, we made the investment, we have the design, it’s already being built and before the end of the year, that facility is going to be completed”
The Sport Minister went on to hint about the capabilities of the facility, noting that it would be constructed in accordance with the sports’ international standards.
“That is going to be the home of table tennis and badminton exclusively, no other sport is going to share any of the time in that building. That racquet is going to be exclusively for those two sports and it’s built to international dimensions.
“So, if we wanted to host an international tournament here, we could for both sports,” the Sport Minister declared.
Ramson Jr, while discussing the tennis and squash courts which are also housed at the Racquet Centre, underscored the importance of such facilities to Guyana’s sport development.
He explained, “What you would’ve seen in the last two years to execute the vision, was a great emphasis towards the establishment of the facilities. Very important, because without the facilities, you’re not going to have the outcome that you’re looking for. How are you going to bake a cake if you don’t have an oven?”
“That is how the talent development process works, the facilities are important,” he added.
Currently, both badminton and table tennis, among several other sport disciplines, utilise the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue, Georgetown, given the ongoing construction work at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH).