Dear Editor,
The other day I read with interest and admiration that Anthony Downes won a record 6th National Tennis title. Many congratulations to the young man and all the other winners in a wonderful game.
But I wonder if it was a record. In my playing days in the 1950s, 1960s and even in the 1970s I won a number of National Men’s singles titles and think it may have been more than six. However, I may be wrong. Sadly, my personal records fell victim to the Great Flood of 2005. The Guyana Lawn Tennis records should have the information.
I do have a book of records showing that the first open tennis tournament in the then British Guiana was held in 1933. Louis Mathias was the men’s singles winner. I wonder how many of the younger generation know that the National Tennis Championships go back at least 83 years!
I believe that all sporting associations should as a matter of course provide a short history of their sport in Guyana and have a Hall of Fame which is kept up to date and honoured. Our young sportsmen and sportswomen should know the history and traditions of the game in which they are competing and take pride and joy in adding to that history and those traditions.
Yours faithfully,
Ian McDonald
