SVGTTA sends team to Senior Caribbean Championships

The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Table Tennis Association has sent a four-member team to the 53rd Senior Caribbean Table Tennis Championships, which are taking place in Guyana.{{more}}

The quartet of local players left here last Saturday morning for the South American continent for the championships, which run from August 13 to August 20, at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall in the capital, Georgetown.

This confirmation came from Secretary of the SVGTTA Paul Velox, last Thursday.

Velox told SEARCHLIGHT that reigning OECS Singles champion Robert Ballantyne, national singles champion and captain, Carlton Daniel, as well as number two seed Romano Spencer and Luc Velox make up the St. Vincent and the Grenadines contingent.

Ballantyne has the added responsibility as Coach.

The team will participate in the Men’s Team, Men’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Men’s Over 45 Veterans and Boys Under 21.

The senior Velox told SEARCHLIGHT that his organisation “squeezed” and eventually sent the team, as the association has financial constraints, hence the last minute decision.

The SVGTTA, last June, hosted the OECS Championships, which saw the organisation incurring some additional expenses.

The SVGTTA General Secretary said it was easy to choose the players, since Spencer and Daniel were at the Commonwealth Games last October in India and competed in the Pan Am Qualifiers in Mexico in May, while Ballantyne is coming off a successful run in the OECS Championships.

But, at the 2011 Senior Caribbean Championships, there is another Vincentian participant, however, not under the aegis of the SVGTTA.

Former President of the SVGTTA Sean Stanley presented to SEARCHLIGHT a copy of a letter, stating that he had been invited to participate in the championships.

Stanley was able to secure that invitation from the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA), through its General Secretary Godfrey Munroe.

At first, Velox said he and other members of his Executive were unaware of Stanley’s participation in the championships; but he later confirmed, after contacting Munroe.

“I do not need them to sanction me to participate in the championships”, Stanley stated.

“I am going as Sean Stanley from St. Vincent and the Grenadines and not Sean Stanley of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and there is a difference there,” Stanley reasoned.

Stanley has been at loggerheads with the current executive since his resignation from the top post, effective January 1, 2008.

Stanley, who has had several outings at the Caribbean Championships said he thinks he still has a little spunk left in him to compete at that level.

“I will be playing in the singles, but will be concentrating on the masters,” the former OECS singles champion stated.

Stanley said that he was funding his own cost of participation in the Caribbean championships.

The former president also tried his hand in the open singles category of the OECS championships here two months ago.

Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Guadeloupe, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, St. Lucia and St Kitts and Nevis are some of the other participating countries. (RT)