National racquet-wielder Trenace Lowe has twin goals for the new year.
Lowe has set herself the goal of winning the junior Caribbean girls singles title when Guyana hosts the Junior Caribbean tournament from March 30-April 4.
But equally as important, Lowe hopes to be successful when she writes the CXC examinations in June.
She agrees that it will be extremely difficult to undertake two such monumental tasks with such a short space of time separating the two events but is confident that she can succeed in both.
“I want to win the juniors at home and I am looking forward keenly to the Caribbean c/ships,” she said.
“I think I can make it. I have my mother and my sister helping me out,” she declared.
Lowe’s plan entails breaking the day down into two segments.
She will devote the morning periods to her table tennis training while in the afternoons she will concentrate on her studies.
General Secretary of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) Godfrey Munroe feels confident that Lowe can achieve both of her goals.
“We want to put some provisions in place to support Lowe in terms of her training so it would not prove too disruptive to her academic studies.”
The top three teams from the junior Caribbean TT championships said Munroe will qualify for the World Junior TT c/ships in Auckland, New Zealand which starts on December 4.
Placing among the top three teams will be an added incentive for Lowe as she will have an opportunity to compete against the best junior racquet wielders in the world.
Munroe said the GTTA has already commenced preparations for the hosting of the championships and will shortly submit its budget to the Department of Sport.
“I think our chances are great. Trenace and Michelle (John) are usually top performers at this level,” he said.
National coach, Linden Johnson, feels Lowe performed outstandingly thr-oughout the year but said a lot more was at stake for Lowe to accomplish this year as there was a packed programme.
“I personally feel Trenace has a lot in her and after exams it will be a different ball game,” Johnson predicted.
Lowe has been sort of a child prodigy winning tournaments from since she was a diminutive eight-year-old.
She has grown not only physically but in the sport as well. At last year’s senior Caribbean championships Lowe destroyed the four-time Puerto Rico female champion, Jerica Marrero, a player who has played on the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Junior Circuit.
Lowe declares it was the high point of her year along with gaining 144 points at last year’s North American Teams tournament in Baltimore, Maryland USA.
Prior to the tournament in Baltimore, Lowe had a rating of 1865 which jumped to 2009 on the conclusion of the tournament courtesy of her win over an opponent rated 2156.
She is now one of the highest-rated Caribbean women’s players on the North American circuit.
Lowe began 2007 in fine fettle carting off five titles at the annual Mashramani tournament. She followed that up with wins in the Under-18 and Under-21 categories at the Silver Bowl Open in Trinidad during the Easter Week-end. She, however, lost to Aleena Edwards in the Women’s Open category but says she benefited from the experience. At the junior Caribbean TT tournament in Trinidad, Lowe lost to Cynthia Gonsalves in the quarter-finals but bounced back to claim the gold medal in the mixed doubles event with John.
She also gained a bronze medal with John in the women’s doubles.
Lowe also spearheaded Mae’s to victory in the Under-18 category of the Business School- sponsored tournament.
Johnson thinks Guyana’s girls’ team should do well at the Junior Caribbean Cha-mpionships as they will have the advantage of playing at home.
Additionally, he said only Cuba and Puerto Rico of the Spanish-speaking countries would be in the group with Guyana as the other Spanish-speaking countries including Venezuela were in another group. Johnson said the Guyana men’s team will participate in the Olympic Qualifiers in Santo Domingo but said a decision had not yet been made on the participation of the women players.
Lowe was optimistic, however saying: “I’m still looking forward to going.”
Where she will undoubtedly go is to India.
Johnson said that a Guyana junior girls table tennis team will be part of the Guyana delegation to the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, in October.
For Trenace Lowe should she achieve her goals, the trip to India could be the icing on the cake.
