Need to capitalise on diplomatic ties – GTTA President

By Akeem Greene

President of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) Godfrey Munroe is of the firm opinion that to help develop the sport, the relevant stakeholders must seek to capitalise on their diplomatic ties in an effort to give players the opportunity to garner more international exposure.
“It is using diplomatic relationships with key countries and we working with Director of Sport [Christopher Jones] in this regard in getting good relations with China.” Munroe stated in an interview with Guyana Times Sport.
His comments stems from the Guyana hosting the 22nd Caribbean Region Table Tennis Federation (CRTTF) Cadet & Junior Championship at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, where Dominica Republic were the most dominant team in both the under-15s and 18s categories, winning 12 gold, four silver and eight bronze medals while the host won three silver and seven bronze medals.
Munroe explained that  the Dominican Republic team have a  mentorship programme with China, where by during the summer, two pre-cadet, cadet and senior players would go China and train, while a  Chinese player/coach would visit the country to  help develop their structure, an ambition that the president endeavours for Guyana.
In addition, to Guyana strengthening their bi-lateral ties, Munroe contended that  there is a need  for more support from the corporate sector, increase in  domestic tournaments, strengthening  their school programme and increasing  the amount of certified coaches.
Last year when the championships were held in the Dominican Republic, Guyana won four medals (1, gold, 1 silver & 2 bronze) with the five-member (Shemar Britton, Elishaba Johnson, Kyle Edghill and Nicholas Romain and Miguel) that they fielded.
Commenting on this year’s results, Munroe felt it allowed the association to get a gauge as to where the sport is currently.
“It was an excellent tournament for Guyana given the context; it was the first time in the history of the Caribbean Championships that you had 10 teams participating.” He further stated “it provided a good litmus test as to where we are as a country and where we need to develop.”

Commendably, the competition was at a high standard but Munroe critically assessed the need the examination of the players’ mental strength and physical conditioning.
In exposing 32 players at the championships  the president foresees a bright future, highlighting the  promising signs showed by 11 year-old  Kaysan Ninvalle who played in the under-15 category and Miguel Wong along with Nicolas Romain who are expected to take up mantle in the under-18s, now that the likes of Britton, Edghill. Johnson and Priscilla Greaves, who won the country’s lone individual medal (bronze) this year, are now seniors.
Meanwhile, seasoned National Coach Linden Johnson, albeit impressed with the players’ performances felt the country should have earned more medals.
“I felt we should have gotten more medals especially gold but we got to accept what we got, we put our best foot forward but now we got to go back to the blackboard and improve.”
He added, “Priscilla [Greaves] did well in here final year as a junior but I was looking forward to better results from the boys.”
The coach highlighted the difficulty in getting the team together on consistent basis due to many players having school examinations.
Next on the agenda for the National team will be the seniors attending the Islamic Games in May, followed by the South American Youth Games.
Trinidad and Tobago have pulled out from hosting the senior Caribbean Championships in July and the hope by some in the association is that Guyana can be the next option. To this end, the GTTA are in discussions with key stakeholders before a decision is made.