National table tennis champs Van Lange, Thomas headline Guyana’s squad to Junior Caribbean C/ship

The tenacious Jonathan Van Lange will be hoping to take his recent form into the upcoming Caribbean championships. (Royston Alkins photo)
The tenacious Jonathan Van Lange will be hoping to take his recent form into the upcoming Caribbean championships. (Royston Alkins photo)

The Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) yesterday announced a squad which will contest the 2019 Caribbean Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships slated for Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic during April 11-18, 2019. The squad was shortlisted following the conclusion of the recently held National Junior Table Tennis Championships.

Headlining the squad is young sensation Jonathan Van Lange who captured both the boys under 15 and 18 titles at the recently held nationals.

The squad also includes former Caribbean champion Kaysan Ninvalle, who, along with Van Lange, captured silver in the doubles category in last year’s edition of the Caribbean games.

Thuraia Thomas will lead Guyana’s title run in the girls under-15 category. (Royston Alkins photo)

On the female side, Thuraia Thomas, who, like Van Lange, captured both the under 15 and 18 titles, headlines the selections while the highly thought of Neveah Clarkston and stiffly rising Crystal Melville were included to bear Guyana’s torch.

According to the GTTA’s release, “the Caribbean Junior and Cadet Table Tennis championship engage players between the ages of 18 years and 15 years and under boys and girls. The championships will be used as the qualification event for the Pan American Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships scheduled for Cancun Mexico June 2019.”

Below are the shortlisted squads for the different categories: 

Boys 15 years and under: Jonathan Van Lange, Kaysan Ninvalle, Isaiah Layne, and Krystian Sahadeo.

Girls 15 years and Under: Thuraia Thomas, Crystal Melville, Nkechi Mc Crae, and Jasmine Billinghy. 

Boys 18 years and under:  Nicholas Romain, Jamal Nicholas, Terrence Rausche, Niran Bissu, and Yuedistir Persaud.

Girls 18 years and under:  Neveah Clarkston and Aneka Philips.