Elites, veterans advance to national ping pong 'quarters'

A mixture of elite and veteran talents advanced to the Pristine Dental Solutions National Senior Table Tennis Championships men’s singles quarter-finals, when day-two action served off at the Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Tacarigua, on Sunday.

Hillview Renegades' seasoned campaigners Franklyn Seechan, David Mahabir and Kenneth Parmanand lead the qualifiers alongside elite youngsters such as two-time winner and 2019 champion Aaron Wilson (Carenage Blasters), Curtis Humphreys (Wasa), Yuvraaj Dookram (Harvard), Aaron Edwards (QPCC) and Andrew Edwards (Gladiators).

Each player topped their respective groups on Saturday and played unbeaten throughout Sunday’s knockout rounds to advance to Wednesday’s quarter-final round.

Wilson, intent on defending his pre-pandemic crown, received a bye in the opening round, before defeating TSTT’s Anil Ramlakhan 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 and Wasa’s Riad Abasali 11-3, 11-8, 11-4.

Seechan had to work a bit harder to get past Blasters’ Rabindra Outar 12-10, 11-6, 11-5. He also battled past Powergen’s Wesley Dookhoo 7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-6 and Crusaders’ N’kosi Rouse 13-11, 11-3, 11-6.

Mahabir beat Wasa’s Emmanuel Edwards (11-2, 11-4, 11-4), Powergen’s Jean Marc Lee Fai (11-3, 11-8, 11-5) and earned a quarter-final spot with a win over Isa Mohammed (11-4, 11-8, 11-4).

Andrew also showed good form as he eliminated Oxford’s David Gopaul 14-12, 11-7, 11-7 followed by QPCC’s Javier King 11-7, 11-7, 4-11, 12-10.

On Wednesday, Wilson faces Seechan, and Mahabir meets Andrew in their respective quarter-final matches.

The other advancing athletes saw Aaron Edwards trump WUTTC’s Vashesh Ramphalie 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 and then Wasa’s Christoff Roberts 11-4, 11-3, 11-2.

A vibrant Dookram beat Crusaders’ Kevin Lewis 11-3, 11-3, 11-2, Blasters’ Luc O’Young 11-8, 11-87, 11-3 and had to claw from a game down to get past Powergen’s Rod Singh 8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6.

Parmanand showed his experience by brushing past Powergen’s Ethan Ramcharan 11-8, 12-10, 11-6, Blasters’ Abhai Lal 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 and had to dig deep to stave off a valiant effort from Anthony Laquis (Oxford) 11-7, 18-16, 6-11, 8-11, 11-4.

And finally, Humphreys ousted QPCC’s Abraham Francis (11-9, 11-8, 11-5) and then won 11-9, 9-11, 13-11, 11-7 against Blasters’ Nicholas Lee.

Parmanand faces Humphreys and Dookram meets Aaron in the next pair of quarter-finals.

The women were also in action on Sunday but up to press time, their results were not yet available.