The auditorium of the McKenzie High School in the Mining Town of Linden will come alive as senior table tennis will make a grand return to afford players an opportunity against counterparts from other section of the country. The event coincides with Linden Town Week activities and is called the Linden Open Table Tennis Championship or more commonly called The Rebirth.
The two day event which is scheduled for today and tomorrow will commence at 10:00h. It will feature some of the nation’s best players who will journey to Linden on a bus provided by the Guyana Table Tennis Association.
Key Players in The Rebirth – President of the GTTA Godfrey Munroe (left) and Maurice Cummings
Speaking with this publication, Maurice Cummings an organizer of the event and a member of the Linden Table Tennis Steering Committee, said it is been a while since a tournament of this magnitude has occurred in Linden.
He stated that this is just the initial stage of reintegrating the sport in the mining town but the ultimate goal is to produced players, who will go on to represent Guyana. According to Cummings, the event has received positive response in and out of Linden.
President of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) Godfrey Munroe said the event is very critical for the association in terms of the decentralization plan.
He said the GTTA has been working with the Linden Table Tennis Committee over the last year and a half, helping to nurture their plans and programmes.
Munroe opined that the Linden Committee has been doing a splendid job and he is happy that the GTTA would have help to provide some key resources to start this process.
There will be several categories of play, juniors and seniors as well as masters. Men’s Singles, Women’s singles, 9 years and under, 15 years and under, 18 years and under and under 21 open. Trophies and cash incentives will be up for grabs.
Some of the big names that are slated to participate are Shemar Britton and Nigel Bryan among many other top players.
