- race for post heats up
Commissioner of Police Henry Greene will be challenging for the post of president of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) when that body stages its annual general meeting sometime later this year.

In this composite photo, Commissioner of Police Henry Greene (left), pays rapt attention to the finals of the Under-12 category of the National Sports Commission table tennis tournament between Nigel Bryan, (seen returning the ball) and Joel Alleyne at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. (Orlando Charles photos)

The current president of the GTTA is Attorney-At-Law Anil Nandalall who was elected for a two-year term in December 2007 after defeating Harold Hopkinson by 42 votes to 17 at the last bi-annual general meeting.

However, Nandalall is reportedly not interested in a second two-year term.

A number of other candidates had previously stated their intentions of vying for the post including Harold `Top Gun’ Hopkinson, current GTTA vice president Arron Fraser and Andrew De Abreu, son of former president Kenneth De Abreu who served the GTTA with distinction for many years before he migrated to Canada.

Some GTTA officials are also keen on wooing former chairman of the Private Sector Commission Gerry Gouveia to contest the top spot.

Greene yesterday said one of his reasons for contesting the presidency was that he felt the sport needed effective leadership.

“Well, I want to give back,” he explained yesterday adding that the celluloid game was one of his favourite sports while he attended the Dolphin Government School.

The commissioner said that he had noted the ups and downs in the game and felt that what was needed was for a proper captain to steer the ship. Like most associations the GTTA has suffered from a lack of sponsorship especially when it comes to sending national teams abroad.

Previous GTTA presidents Kim Kissoon and rice magnate Beni Sankar were successful businessmen who were not shy of ploughing their money into the sport in the face of a lack of funding from the government.

After Sankar demitted office the post of GTTA president was held by former Caribbean  table tennis champion Sydney Christophe who was then succeeded by Owen John.

After John, politician/businessman Peter Ramsaroop served a stint as GTTA president before indicating like Nandalall his intention of leaving office even  before his term had ended.

If elected, Greene said he will make the sport available where people can compete seriously as well as for fun.

“Every organization worth its salt shall have a table”, Greene promised.

Greene said if elected he would along with the rest of the new executive of the GTTA devise a strategic plan to move the sport forward.

“I have my own ideas but this will not be a one man show. I want to work along with other members of the executive,” he promised.

Green said though, that support from the business community was necessary as table tennis was starved of funding.  He also said the sport needed support from organizations, groups and individuals in terms of promoting the game locally.

Green said it was his hope to see those who can afford it have a table for leisure play and for exercise.He wants to ensure that the game is managed fairly at all times.

“We will give all players an opportunity despite their status,” he declared.

And, in an invited comment, GTTA general secretary Godfrey Munroe said yesterday he welcomed Greene’s interest in contesting the position.

Munroe said the GTTA was putting provisions in place for the staging of the elections.