Bryan and Lowe cop table tennis singles titles

Nigel Bryan and Trenace Lowe blew away  Paul Meusa (11-5,12-10,11-9,11-6) and Jody-Ann Blake (11-4,11-9,11-5,5-11,11-13,14-12) respectively to win the Men’s and Women’s Singles titles on the closing day of the National Sports Commission’s Annual Independence Table Tennis Tournament on Sunday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

The other final that was played on the closing day was the Under-21 Open which saw Lowe silencing  the crowd when she thrashed the favourite  Bryan in straight sets of 12-10, 11-9, 11-9.

Winners and runners-up at the National Sports Commission’s Annual Independence Table Tennis Tournament on Sunday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall pose with their trophies and medals.

In the 18-years-and-under boys and girls finals played last Saturday, Stefan Corlette beat Sunil Logan at 11-8, 11-3, 11-5 and Chelsea Edghill won in straight sets in the game against Akeicia Nedd at 11-7, 11-5 and 11-5.

At the closing ceremony Henry Greene, President of the Guyana Table Tennis Association, congratulated the National Sports Commission for delivering a well-organized tournament. He said he was pleased about the discipline and dedication the young players displayed. He added that he is now looking forward to sending a team to Jamaica to compete in the Caribbean Mini/Pre Cadet table tennis championship scheduled for July 20-25, as well as Chelsea Edghill who qualified for the Latin American Table Tennis Championship in Mexico set for July 10-15.

Dr Pradeep Balram, vice-president of GTTA, said he was impressed by the large number of participants in the tournament, which totalled 288 players from areas including Linden, Bartica and Berbice, and this showed  that  table tennis is expanding and rising.

Meanwhile,  Patrick Triumph, public relations officer of GTTA chaired the event  and mentioned  that Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr Frank Anthony and Director of Sport  Neil Kumar had asked to be excused from the closing ceremony because of other engagements.

Triumph called on players to work on their sportsmanship and said he would like to see them shaking hands before and after their games and acknowledging the umpires as well.

The National Sports Commission donated the trophies and medals while the GTTA provided the cash incentives.