Outspoken junior national table tennis coach Dwain Dick has expressed concern over the scheduling of the upcoming senior and junior national table tennis championships which is set to serve off in just a few days.
Dick, who is also the President of the Titans Table Tennis Club, is not exactly over the moon about the timing of the event which will see the non-participation of two of Guyana’s top female players in Chelsea Edghill and Trenace Lowe.
“The national championships should be one of the biggest events on the GTTA calendar; as such ample time should be given beforehand so that if overseas-based players want to compete, they can,” Dick argued.
During a recent interview with Stabroek Sport, he insisted that the incoherence of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) continues to hurt the sport.
The GTTA made the announcement of the championships on January 4, 2020.
To complicate matters further, the GTTA which came in for criticism during 2019 for basically handpicking national teams, advised players that the 2020 edition of the championships will be used as a selection instrument. Dick, therefore, wonders whether Edghill and Lowe will be held to a different standard.
“Their [Edghill and Lowe] absence will cause many questions to be asked in terms of selecting women’s team after nationals, if as they say nationals is the basis for selection.
“Bear in mind, the best did not participate and should be eligible for national selection, but for those who come in one to three, wouldn’t they be eligible as well?”
The GTTA, Dick said, is also missing out on the opportunity to add commercial value to the sport and to reignite spectator interest by not ensuring the event is organised to accommodate quality oversees participation.
“Chelsea is one of our most popular players and she brings value to the competition so those are just some of the things that need to be considered to help attract spectators,” Dick told Stabroek Sport.
To further express his disappointment from a spectator’s point of view, he added: “Nationals without our two best female players wouldn’t generate much interest hence Nationals should be scheduled in a timely manner so as to allow our best players to compete at home.”
Nonetheless, the Table Tennis coach said he will be following the championships especially the highly anticipated showdown between senior pros Christopher Franklin and Shemar Britton. That matchup could see the passing of the baton as Dick predicts.
“Britton is young and keeps improving, so he has the edge.”
Dick also backs the reigning boys Under – 15 and 18 champ, Johnathan Van Lange, to chalk up more success but conceded that he will be targeted.
“Van Lange recently returned from a cricket competition overseas, so hopefully, he can readjust to tennis, but he is a fighter and a smart player, so it’s possible.
“We are hoping they [Titans players] can all rise to the occasion and give spectators some exciting and quality tennis.
“I haven’t seen players outside of Titans so it’s difficult for me to say, but as far as Titans playing against each other they are close in level, understand each other’s game and maybe some upsets can happen.
“But the boys under 18 will be the hottest contested division. Terrence Rausch, Kaysan Ninvalle, Van Lange, Isaiah Layne, Kristian Sahadeo, Colin Wong will make it very competitive and interesting.”
The seniors will go up against each other from January 17-19 while the country’s top juniors will trade serves from January 24-26.
