Van Lange ecstatic after retaining U-18 and U-15 titles

…focused on Caribbean championship

By Timothy Jaikarran

After a successful Junior National Table Tennis Championship, Jonathan Van Lange is elated that he was able to defend his U-18 and U-15 titles.

The 13-year-old is now focused on winning the Caribbean U-15 championship title.
In an interview with Guyana Times Sport when asked how he felt after retaining his titles, Van Lange said, “I feel great you; all my hard work has paid off coming in from last year. All my training has paid off as well as it assisted me with more critical thinking during my games. I know a lot has been said about me and Kaysan (Ninvalle), to make it look as though we were feuding, but I blanked it out, I forgot about it and I just focused on the tennis and I came out successful thanks to God. I just want to thank my coach Dwain Dick of the Titans Tennis Club as he impacted me a lot; he has brought me to this level, as when I just started, I could have barely held my racquet, so I have come a far way in three years. My main focus now is the Caribbean U-15 Championship as I believe once I can win that I can move on to the U-18.”
In his U-18 and U-15 journey, he made it through the preliminary rounds with ease; nevertheless, he knew that a young fiery Kaysan Ninvalle would be his opponent in both finals. When the two met, Van Lange was the eventual victor, as Ninvalle had no answer for him. In the U-18 category, Van Lange flew past Ninvalle with ease, and was able to win the first two rounds 11-8, 11-5. Despite losing 11-8 in the third set, Van Lange returned strong to win the last game 11-6. The U-15 finale was nothing like the Under-18’s, as Van Lange did not allow Ninvalle to breath, cramping him and constantly applying the pressure with every serve. He was able to win all three matches 11-9, 11-8, 11-8, to reclaim both titles.