National table tennis players qualify for Birmingham Commonwealth games
Guyana’s top national table tennis players have been rewarded for their consistent performances with qualification spots in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
With only three team spots available for the Caribbean, Guyana’s qualification leaves only two team spots available to form part of the sixteen teams to qualify for the Commonwealth Team Competition.
Guyana’s National Men's and Women's Table Tennis Teams have shown consistent performances over the period 2018 to 2020, which resulted in them earning qualification spots for the Games.
The new qualification system, instituted by the Commonwealth Games Federation and the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), seeks to reward teams that have had consistent performance over the period.
This is geared towards ensuring continental representation and offers different paths through world rankings, regional qualification, individual, doubles and host country qualification.
The squad will consist of 4 male players and 4 female players. In each team, players will play doubles and singles competitions in the games.
Guyana has been a consistent performer at the Commonwealth Games after our team made its debut in the 2006 edition of the Games held in Melbourne Australia, the 2010 edition of the Games in Delhi, India, the 2014 Glasgow Games and the 2018 Gold Coast edition.
Guyana Table Tennis Association President Godfrey Munroe said,
“With the COVID pandemic, the decision was made to limit the amount of teams moving forward. So for qualification, participation at the games will become a key feature. This announcement is significant since it comes on the backs of both the men and women team performances in international competition for 2018 to 2021 period.”
The Games will be held in Birmingham, England from July 28 to August 8 2022.
Members of Guyana’s National Table Tennis team; Christopher Franklyn, Shemar Britton Miguel Wong Jonathan Van Lange, Olympian Chelsea Edghill, Natalie Cummings, Precilla Greaves and coach Idi Lewis – are currently in Cuba.
Guyana’s women will compete against Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and hosts Cuba while the men will compete against these countries, as well as Haiti.
The team is participating in the 62nd edition of the Caribbean Table Tennis Championship from March 3 to 8, 2022.
The last Senior Caribbean Championship was hosted by Guyana in 2019, where we finished second to the Dominican Republic.
Guyana took away 10 medals — gaining a medal in each event except the female Under-21 Singles.
This year, there is no Under-21 category, owing to COVID-19 restrictions.
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