Table Tennis playoffs

On the weekend of July 23, members of the Technical Team of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Table Tennis Association and Table Tennis players and enthusiasts were privileged to benefit from technical training sessions conducted by long standing Trinidadian table tennis personnel Bob Roopnarine and Ray Fermin.

The SVGTTA Technical Director Khalique Bailey and his team participated in a Tournament Management Seminar which included hands on training with the new International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) software. The SVGTTA Technical Team will be deploying this software for all future tournaments and will use these results to produce a formal national ranking system.

On Saturday afternoon in a session organized at the AVESCO Clubhouse in Arnos Vale, Mr. Roopnarine conducted a well received lecture session for players and enthusiasts with special emphasis on the rules of the game and tournament procedures.

The lecture session was followed by the first in a series of National Playoffs which the SVGTTA is organizing as part of the process for selecting members of a National Table Tennis Training Squad in preparation for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 2010 OECS Championships and Pan Am Games.

Final results of the matches played were

Quarter Final 1 – Robert Ballantyne Vs Kavir Gaymes – 11/5, 11/5, 11/2     (3-0)
Quarter Final 2- Junior Byron-Cox Vs Kendal Charles – 5/11, 10/12, 11/8, 11/7, 11/7 (2-3)
Quarter Final 3 – Luc Velox  Vs Terry Marksman – 10/12, 11/6, 11/6, 6/11, 11/1 (3-2)
Quarter Final 4- Dominic Evans Vs Romano Spencer- 12/10, 8/11, 11/13, 8/11 (1-3)

Semi Final 1- Robert Ballantyne VS Kendal Charles – 11/5, 11/7, 9/11, 11/7  (3-1)
Semi Final 2- Luc Velox Vs Romano Spencer – 12/10, 8/11, 11/13, 8/11 (1-3)

Finals – Ballantyne Vs Spencer – 12/10, 8/11, 11/8,13/11 (3-1)

The local Table Tennis community is also expected to get a further technical boost through the services of ITTF Coach Mr. Ahmed Dalwalty who will be here from 3 August as part of the Olympic Solidarity Program conducted in conjunction with the National Olympic Committee. Mr Dalwaty will conduct recertification and training sessions for existing Level 1 Table Tennis Coaches and Community Coaches