The National Juniors Table Tennis Championships concluded in grand fashion as fans witnessed from the pavilion the unveiling of the champions in the 18-years-and-under women, U15 women’s singles, 15-years-and-under boys, and U18 men’s singles.
Kaysan Ninvalle
These four finals were all dominated by members of the Titans Table Tennis Club (Jonathan Van Lange, Crystal Melville, Thuraia Thomas) originates out of the Red Cross Building.
The Finale (U-18 Women)
The afternoon’s action commenced with the U18 women’s final kicking off. Crystal Melville and Thuraia Thomas were pitted against each other after hard fought preliminary matches. In the end, the better woman was Melville, who won the finals 3-2.
Jonathan Van Lange
Her first set saw her losing to Thomas 11-9, but she bounced back 11-8 to tie that match at 1-1. Nerves got to Melville as she lost the third game 11-2, but after composing herself, she left Thomas staring at a trail of dust while she won the last two matches 11-6 and 11-7.
Earlier, in the semifinal, Thomas defeated Nkechi McRae 3-1 to book her spot in the final; but she lost the first set 11-0, then came back to win the other three sets with ease. It was the same for Melville, who lost her first set to Jasmine Billingy 11-9, but was able to win the last three games with ease.
U-15 Women
In the U15 women’s category, Melville and Thomas met again, but this time the story had a different ending, as Thomas triumphed. Thomas won her category 3-2 after many thought she would have given up her fight She had lost the first two rounds 11-8, 12-10, but returned to surprise Melville and win the last three matches 12-10, 11-8, 12-10.
Crystal Melville and Thuraia Thomas, U-18 and U-15 Champions
Thomas was also able to book her spot in the final when she defeated Billingy 3-2, losing the first two sets but taking the last three by storm. It wasn’t the same for the McRae-Melville showdown, as Thomas defeated McRae-Melville with ease 3-0.
U-18 and U-15 Men (Van Lange dominates)
It was expected that Van Lange and Kaysan Ninvalle would have each booked their spot in the finale of both events. These two talented youngsters were dominant in all their matchups. In the U 18 category, Van Lange flew past Ninvalle with much 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 U15 finale was nothing like its under-18 counterpart, as Van Lange did not allow Ninvalle to breath, cramping him and constantly applying the pressure with every serves. He was able to win all three matches 11-9, 11-8, 11-8, to reclaim both U18 and U15 titles.
What’s next?
The tournament served as a key component for establishing a ranking and selection system, among other benefits. With the continental qualification event for Games of the XXXII Olympiad scheduled for April 15–19, 2020 and the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics scheduled for August 2020, many of the events scheduled on the regional and international calendar of activities have been advanced.
This will see the Caribbean Junior and Cadet Championships being scheduled for March 2020, the Caribbean Senior Championships being scheduled for April 2-8 in Havana, Cuba — which is being used as the qualification event for the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships in Houston Texas, USA; and the Continental Olympic qualification event being held early in 2020. These are expected to provide greater impetus to the national championships.
