Isaiah Layne has a very relaxed and unassuming demeanor but the southpaw talent certainly doesn’t lack ambition.
The 15-year-old Saint Stanislaus College Table Tennis talent is one of Guyana’s promising junior players who is capable of forging a prolonged career.
Most around the Table Tennis circuit are struck by his grace. His technique isn’t too shabby and according to coach Dwain Dick, Layne’s work ethics is good and he has all the right attributes.
But there is one little matter Layne needs to iron out. He is probably too much of a nice guy which doesn’t work in his favour on the sparring table.
Layne ramps with the best in his class. On many occasions, he tussled with the likes of Jonathan Van Lange, Kristian Sahadeo, Kaysan Ninvalle and Niran Bissu but his finishing touches and his will to win lets him down.
Recognising that there is a kink in his mental armory, Layne said he is working on being more physiologically fit to realize more success.
“Yes, I am [working on my mental game],” he told this publication recently.
“I’ve noticed in some of my matches I would become lackadaisical and I have attended a mental toughness seminar last year where I was learning some strategies which can help me deal with those mental situations,” the young man added.
Meanwhile, Dick said Layne, whose father Mikey is a former national footballer, has the tools but he just needs to use them.
“He needs more self-confidence, self-assuredness and focus. He needs to trust himself to perform; the stars will then fade away.
“Overall his technique is good, he has the tools… Just has to use them, believe and trust in the tools.
“Whenever he opens up, its money, he just doesn’t do it frequently enough. His biggest assets are his serves and big forehand loop,” the coach further explained.
In just a few years, Layne has represented Guyana on six different occasions. His most successful outing came in 2016 when he collected the runners up prize at the Pre-Cadet Caribbean Championships held in Jamaica – the same year Ninvalle won the under – 11 crown.
Most recently, he captured top honours in the 2019 Boys Elite School’s Table Tennis Championships and has been a consistent feature and performer in the locally sanctioned Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) junior tournaments.
His most memorable moment on the table to date came in the very 2016 Pre-Cadet championship. He described the moment as a surreal battle against his Trinidadian opponent who to this day is a close friend of his.
“That would be during the 2016 Pre-cadet Caribbean Championships where I had to play a Trinidad and Tobago player, Nicholas Lee, in the semi-finals. It was the most intense match I ever had but I was the victor and up to today we are still friends,” he said.
Layne was able to log his journey quite precisely and remembers succinctly what drew him to the sport.
“The thrill you get when playing against someone and it was exhilarating when I first started playing with my cousin and others so I got hooked on it.”
The young athlete recalled how he was introduced to the sport.
“Table Tennis was introduced to me by my older cousin, Kelvin Fletcher, and so it became the first sport I took a liking to. I decided to follow on with it when I was eight years old and began training with Mr. Gavin Lowe until I had joined Titans Table Tennis Club.”
As his love for Table Tennis evolved so too did his understanding of the sporting landscape. Layne said one of his main reasons to maintain a high level of success is to attract scouts so as to attain a student/ athlete scholarship abroad.
He has ambitions of becoming an Aeronautic Engineer while at the same time achieving player rating points.
