President of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) Godfrey Munroe yesterday lauded Power Company Wärtsilä’s continued support towards the sport ahead of this Saturday’s opening of the 8th annual Pre-Cadet Caribbean table Tennis championship.
The tournament is set to be contested at the recently re-opened Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) and from Saturday until next Thursday.
Participating countries include Jamaica, Suriname, Aruba, Barbados, the Dominican Republic and St Lucia. At the simple handing over of the sponsorship cheque at Wärtsilä’s office, Wartsila Contract Manager, Arron Fraser, himself a former junior player, said that his company was happy to continue giving “tangible support” to the GTTA and its endeavours.
Fraser described the GTTA as one of the few “organised sport associations” in the country and said as such his company will continue to support table-tennis, its players and any other aspects surrounding the fraternity.
Munroe also spoke to this newspaper about his expectations leading up to this weekend’s proceedings. He stated that the power company has been on board with the GTTA since 2009 and has since thrown its weight behind the organisation and their development projects and overseas engagements freely and generously.
He highlighted the fact that sponsorship has been slow but said that the GTTA has managed to receive support from a few sponsors such as the Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company (GT&T), Banks DIH Limited P& P Insurance Brokers and others.
Concerning the actual tournament Munroe said it is the “pillar for the development of the sport and its players in Guyana as well as regionally and an incubator for future champions.”
Thirty-two players are set to participate in the championships and, as hosts of the competition, Guyana will receive some advantage by being able to field more players than the other teams.
Munroe, though, noted that half of this year’s teams are debutants adding that stronghold resides with the players classed in the Under-13 category.He appealed to the public to throw its support behind the tournament and the young players involved as the tournament will be used to churn out future table tennis champions.
