By Kizan Brumell
National table tennis racquet wielder and the Caribbean’s number two junior female player Trenace Lowe is a strong candidate for the junior sportswoman and sportswoman of the year awards when representatives of the National Sports Commission and the media meet next week.
So strong was Lowe’s performances that Chinese coach Chang Jian Hua predicted that Lowe would place Guyana’s table tennis on the World’s map.
Last year was Lowe’s best year yet in her career as she narrowly lost the final of the Caribbean junior girls’ category at the 13th annual Caribbean Junior and Cadet championships which was staged at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
She rebounded to be the Caribbean’s best performer at the prestigious Common-wealth Youth Games held in Pune, India where she placed fifth from a strong field of some of the best junior racquet wielders in the world.
She also placed seventh from a strong field at an invitational tournament in Puerto Rico coming up against top players from Sweden, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic.
Yesteryear also saw Lowe participating on the World circuit representing Guyana at the Latin American Junior Championships and the Colombian Junior Open in Cartagena (June 6 – 23).
Towards the end of the year she took part in the annual North American Teams Open tournament hosted at the Baltimore Convention Centre in the USA.
Victories over world-rated players from Paraguay, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia and the Dominican Republic had enabled her to gain a world ranking of 220.
Similar performances at the annual North American Teams tournament in Baltimore saw Lowe’s ranking shoot up to 1981 by virtue of her 13 wins.
Nearer to home, Lowe stamped her authority at the Silver Bowl Championship in Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) where she carted off the Women’s single and U-18 championships. She also gained a silver medal in the U-21 category of the Silver Bowl championships.
Lowe was not finished with Trinidad and at the Tobago Open she carted off gold in the U-18 and U-21 girls’ and bronze in the women’s singles.
A clean sweep was almost possible in the Charles Ping Pong Tourney in T&T where she captured gold medals in the U-21 women’s and U-18 girl’s singles.
However, her quest for a third gold medal was thwarted in the women’s doubles event where she was forced to settle for silver.
At home, Lowe turned in a scintillating performance at the national championships where she won four gold medals, two silver and two bronze medals.
She swept the women’s, girls’ and mixed doubles titles, claimed silver in the women’s singles and ‘C’ class Open and bronze medals in the senior mixed doubles and ‘B’ class Open events.
At the annual Youth Week anniversary Independence tournament in May Lowe picked up gold and a silver medal in the women’s singles and women’s U-21 categories.
