Jamaica sends four to Pan Am TT
Published:Tuesday | September 7, 2021 | 12:09 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Jamaica Table Tennis Association President Andrew Lue is regretful that eight national players will not participate in the Pan American Youth Championships in the Dominican Republic this month. However, Jamaica will send four representatives who will compete from September 12 to 18.
The association learned about the tournament belatedly and needed to confirm their participation by Friday.
However, raising the US$300,000 required to make the trip proved difficult until the Sports Developement Foundation (SDF) sponsored the four players and two officials.
“We will send a scaled-down version of the team we wanted to send, but we have to be grateful,” Lue said.
“We have to thank the SDF for assisting us. They are the ones who have enabled us to make this trip. However, the time was too short to get any other sponsor involved.
“Nevertheless, I would rather think of my cup as half full, half empty. But even though we didn’t get to send the full contingent, I am happy that we were able to send a female.”
The delegation will consist of three female members in Kelsey Davidson, Tsenaye Lewis, and Solesha Young, and Under-19 boys representative Rasheed Clarke.
Davidson and Young will contest the U19 girls, and Lewis the U15 singles events.
The females doubles team is still undecided. However, the mixed doubles will feature Clarke and Young.
The original 12 players for the trip did not include national champion Young, and Lue welcomes her inclusion.
An uphill task
“The competition will be very tough as these countries are on top of their game, so it will be an uphill task,” he said.
“But coming out of the national championships, we hope they will give of their best and garner some ranking points and establish themselves not just as individuals, but Jamaica as a table tennis destination.”
The finalists from the Pan American tournament will advance to the World Youth Championship in Portugal in December and Lue has high hopes.
The team will be managed by Sean Wallace and coached by Sandra Rettie. However, preparation leading up to the team’s departure on September 11 will be done by the players’ individual coaches.