Foster disappointed by C'wealth Games snub

Jamaica's top female table tennis player, Yvonne Foster, has been left with more questions than answers following her exclusion from the team selected to represent the country at next month's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India.

The Jamaica Table Tennis Association (JTTA) recently announced a squad of four players - recently crowned national champion Joseph Dibbs, Imani McPherson, Simon Tomlinson and Kane Watson - to represent the country at the Games. But there was no place for the 18-year-old, six-time national champion.

"I'm very disappointed, but I guess it's part of life and I will just have to move on from this disappointment," said Foster, during a recent interview with The Gleaner. "I haven't spoken to anyone from the JTTA or gotten any explanation or anything."

The Meadowbrook High School student conceded that her poor showing at the recent Central America and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Puerto Rico might have contributed to the snub.

She, however, blamed her performance on the lack of training ahead of the tournament due to her school obligations, and was confident that she could have done better at the October 1-14 Commonwealth Games.

"At the beginning they (JTTA) told us that based on our performance at the CAC Games maybe that would decide whether or not we went to the Commonwealth Games. I think my performance was bad overall because I wasn't able to commit a lot of time to training so that was definitely a factor," said Foster.

Tournament

The youngster failed to progress out of her group at the tournament and was only able to win one match.

However, JTTA president, Keith Garvey, explained that if it was entirely up to his association, Foster would have made the trip, but it was hard for them to justify her selection based on her poor CAC Games showing and the lack of a competitive female team.

"The JTTA wanted Yvonne (Foster) to go to the Commonwealth Games but the problem that we had was that we were told by the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) before that the CAC Games will be used as a benchmark," said Garvey.

"Because of the limited resources, the JOA are the ones bankrolling this trip, so we had to look at our numbers and make a decision.

"We had to justify the selection of the team and Yvonne Foster's name was submitted to go to the tournament, but it was hard to justify her going to play in the singles and mixed doubles alone. The men's team would get the exposure playing in the team competition, which means that they will play far more games," Garvey further explained.

"If Foster went on her own, she would not be able to play in any team event because a team consists of four ladies. The girls didn't win any match at the CAC Games so that showed the level that they have been playing, and remember that the CAC Games is a developmental competition, while the Commonwealth Games is a competition where you try to send a team with a very good chance of medalling," Garvey noted. "Since there was very little chance of the female team medalling we would not have looked to send an entire women's team."