VETERAN DEXTER St Louis and his step-daughter Rheann Chung were named as the Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year respectively as the Trinidad and Tobago Table Tennis Association (TTTTA) held their prize-giving ceremony at the VIP Lounge, Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo yesterday.
The duo, who both reside in France, were Trinidad and Tobago’s table- tennis representatives at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico last October.
The left-handed 43-year-old St Louis reached the third round of the men’s singles at Mexico while the 26-year-old Chung was unable to advance past the round-robin preliminary round phase.
Aaron Wilson, a 13-year-old from Carenage Blasters, was named as the Junior Men’s Player of the Year. Wilson copped the boys Under-13 title at the Solo National Junior Championships and was the runner-up in the Under-15 age group.
Brittany Joseph, the Junior Women’s Player of the Year, triumphed in both the girls Under-13 and Under-15 categories at the National Junior Championships.
The Highest Debut awards went to Arun Roopnarine (boys) and Catherine Spicer (girls) while Akiel John and Chelsea Fong were adjudged as the Most Significant Ranking mover in the respective boys and girls sections.
There were also awards presented to the top players in the respective age groups.
Brandon Lee Young, Jakeem Welsh, Messiah Walcott, Roberto Johnson and Derron Douglas topped the Under-10 boys section; Wilson was joined by Amresh Mungal, Daniel Henriques, Shaquille Mitchell, Brandon Lee Young and Tyrone Jiminez as the best in the boys Under-13 while, in the Under-15, Wilson had Roopnarine, Mungal, Sarvesh Mungal and Varoun Sitram as company. A pair of Roopnarines (Arun and Vimal) were among the leading Under-18 boys players, alongside Sarvesh Mungal, Andreus Abraham-Pantin and Orell Cooper, while Vimal Roopnarine and Abraham-Pantin were joined by Kyle Borneo, Davone Joseph and Lawrence Ince as the top Under-21 male competitors.
Reeza Burke, who won his fifth National Men’s Singles title in June, was among the top five men’s players for the year, joining Curtis Humphreys, Andrew Alexander, Terell Abbott and the evergreen Lionel Darceuil.
The top girls Under-ten players were Fong, Jasher De Gannes, Shanekah Johnson, Ackayla Lucas and Shurja Welsh while Joseph, De Gannes, Gyshan Latchman, Monique Cooper and Nalini Boodoo were the leading Under-15 smashers among the girls.
Spicer, Dayna Samaroo, as well as cousins Ambika and Renuka Sitram were in both the top five of the Under-18 and Under-21 categories.
They were joined by Artienea Gregoire in the Under-18 section and Ashley Quashie in the Under-21.
Aleena Edwards, who clinched her record-breaking ninth women singles trophy at the National Championships, was among the five best women players overall, joining Renuka Sitram, Spicer, Kristen Scipio and Linda Partap-Boodhan.
By Joel Bailey
Source: www.newsday.co.tt