Table tennis body wants lawsuit dismissed

THE TABLE Tennis Association (TTTTA) is again seeking to have the lawsuit of France-based duo Dexter St Louis and Rheann Chung, who have complained of being unfairly treated by the local body, thrown out.

The association has filed an amended defence in the continuing proceedings before Justice Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell.

A case management conference was held on Tuesday at the Port of Spain High Court, when the judge gave further directions for the conduct of the case.

She also clarified that a previous notice of wasted costs against the TTTTA’s lawyers were vacated.

In its amended defence, the local table tennis body argued that the claim by St Louis and Chung cannot be sustained since they sought to have their complaint go to arbitration.

The association also argues that since a compromise was arrived at to allow St Louis and Chung to join the two originally selected players Aaron Wilson and Yuvraaj Dookram at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games, the issues before the court are now moot, and there are no justiciable issue for the court to pronounce on.

Last month, on the eve of the legal showdown between the France-based duo and the local table tennis body, the intervention of the TT Olympic Committee (TTOC) led to all four players going forward to the Gold Coast games, which came to an end last week.

Two withdrawals from TT’s track and field team made it possible for all four table tennis players to advance to the games.

Due to the circumstances surrounding the selection of the table tennis team, there were reports of a tense atmosphere in the TT camp in Australia. The national team failed to come close to a medal. TT won double gold in athletics courtesy Jereem Richards (Men’s 200m), and Michelle-Lee Ahye (Women’s 100m) and silver on the second day of the games in swimming with Dylan Carter (Men’s 50m butterfly).

In their legal challenge, St Louis and Chung are seeking damages for breach of contract, conspiracy and unlawful interference and an order that the issue is resolved through TTOC’s arbitration process. In its original defence of the lawsuit, the TTTTA is claiming that the two were informed via e-mail of the selection criteria and chose not to participate in local competitions.

The lawsuit has been adjourned to July 16.

The Table Tennis Association is represented by Dinesh Rambally, Stefan Ramkissoon and Kiel Tacklalsingh, while Matthew Gayle and Sheriza Khan represent St Louis and Chung.