Caribbean table tennis championships ...
David spearheads Caribbean team past U.S.
From Joe Chapman in New York
Guyana Chronicle
October 15, 2003
BROOKLYN, New York -- Guyana's Paul David continued his superb form to seal victory for the Caribbean Invitational team against a U.S. Select side while teaming up with Vietnam's De Tran to win the Caribbean Doubles Open title.
Another Guyanese player Shawn Embleton lost in the final of the Caribbean Singles championship as the United States Table Tennis Association-sanctioned Caribbean Table Tennis Cup's inaugural two-day event, organised by the Dynamic Table Tennis Community, concluded Sunday night at the Brooklyn Athletic Club.
David, the temperamental but talented national player who represented Guyana from 1994 to 1996 before taking up residence in the United States, played flashing and attacking tennis throughout the tournament. The day before, he won the tie-breaker game to give the Guyana side victory over Jamaica in the team final.
On day two of the tournament which began Saturday, the Caribbean Invitational side were tied on four games with the U.S. team when David, with his all-out aggressive forearm and back hand offensive style, came up against the Russian defensive tactical "chopper" player.
The United States Table Tennis Association rated all players for the event. In the U.S. representative side were Adam Hugh with the highest rating of 2 466 points, the Czechoslovak-born female player Renata Pelucha 2 445 and Russian Slabva Gotlieb with 2 429.
For the Caribbean side, Guyana's Christophe with 2 450 was the second highest-rated player while David had a rating of 2 424 and Jamaica's former Caribbean singles runner-up player Keith Evans 2 314.
The SWAYTLIN Format was used in the team match-up with a best-of-nine factor, to determine the winner and the Caribbean team won 5-4 on a canter.
The first game saw Christophe playing a good all-round game to beat Gotlib in straight sets 12-8,11-3,11-76. But Hugh levelled the series, taking care of David also in straight sets 11-4,11-4,11-6.
Evans next won against Renata in straight sets at 8,8,7 to put the Caribbean team 2-1 up. Then Hugh tied it up with a win against Christophe. After Gotlib won his first game - one that Christophe surely could have won 12-10 - the Guyanese warrior won the second game 11-8 before bowing out 11-9 and 12-10.
The Caribbean side took the initiative when Evans put away Gotlib 3-0 at 5, 6 and 7 but Peluchova was able to defeat David in four games 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9 to square it at 3-3. Hugh then came back to give the edge to the U.S. side winning against Evans in three straight sets.
A clearly tired Christophe then came back with the U.S. side up 4-3 to level the scores 4-4, outlasting Peluchova in five sets. In fact Christophe rebounded like a wounded tiger, having lost the first two sets 12-14, 6-11. He rallied back like a thoroughbred to triumph 11-8,11-8,11-3.
It was once again in the hands of David to deliver the knockout punch and he did in magnificent style. He played his natural aggressive game and blew away the challenge of southpaw Gotlib in straight sets 3-0 (11-7-11-5,11-1).
Guyana's former Caribbean Table tennis champion, the veteran 38-year-old Christophe could only show glimpses of his old fire, arriving just hours after deplaning at the JFK Airport Sunday morning in a delayed flight.
In the Open Doubles, David partnered with Vietnam's De Tran to cart off the title beating Jamaica's Ernest Virgo and Keith Evans in the final 11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-9. In the semifinals the Tran/David combination put aside the challenge of the U.S. pair of Adam Hugh and Barry Dattel. Guyana's Christophe and Lester Cummings were beaten in the quarterfinals.
The Singles title went to Virgo who beat Embleton in the final 4-2 in the best-of-seven series. From the round point play in that competition, Guyana's Usama Nasrudeen, former senior nationals Cummings and Mosi Killikelly along with Embleton all made it to the quarterfinals.
But Nasrudeen, who beat Cummings, lost to Virgo in the semifinal while Embleton won against Stephen Grant 12-10, 8-10, 9-11, 11-7, 11-1 and over Dwight King 11-5, 13-11, 11-5 before facing Virgo in the final.
In the Continental Singles Top 16 championship the winded Christophe found himself up against it and could not advance after losing his matches to Evans and Russia's Bogdan Kucherenko in their group play to qualify for the Top 16 tournament.
Also failing to move through was fellow Guyana player young Nasrudeen who lost 3-0 to Dattel and the former Czechoslovakia women player Peluchova. .
Virgo was also eliminated losing 2-3 in both matches against de Tran and Gotlib.
Killikelly advanced to the Top 16 after winning 3-1 against Cameron Scott and losing to eventual winner Hugh 3-0. David also moved through at the expense of Embleton who also lost 3-0 to the Russian player Leibovitz.
In the Top 16 championship Dattel knocked out Killikelly 11-6,11-4, 9-11, 11-8 to reach the quarterfinals. After beating Evans, David lost close games 3-0 (11-9,11-9,11-9) in the semifinals against the superbly conditioned Hugh, the son of former Chinese provincial professional player Lily Yip, a two-time U.S. Olympian in 1992 and 1996. He is the top ranked junior player in the U.S. and ranked among the top 20 in the U.S. In the final, Hugh took care of Leibovitz in the best-of-seven series in straight sets 4-0.
Visiting Miss Guyana/World Alexis Glasgow presented the winner’s trophy in the team event to the successful Guyana team. Among the special guests were Brooklyn's Assemblyman N. Nick Perry and Council member Yvette D. Clarke.
Also taking time out to witness the championships were former Guyana players George Braithwaite, Garth Isaacs, Benfield Munroe and Ashton Arthur.