Table tennis Olympics 'Wild Card' criticised
President says name chosen by vote
By Michael DaSilva
Stabroek News
March 31, 2004
Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) President Sydney Christophe supports the selection of Matthew Khan as a possible Wild Card candidate for the 2004 Athens Olympics.
However, Khan's selection has been criticized in some quarters, including within the GTTA.
Speaking to Stabroek Sport on Monday, Christophe, a ten-time national men's champion, said GTTA executive members, minus Vice-president Godfrey Munroe, met in January and selected Khan as their Wild Card nominee.
According to Christophe, the GTTA was written to by the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) requesting that the GTTA select a player for a possible Wild Card selection. He said two names - Matthew Khan and Jody Ann Blake - were nominated at the meeting and it went to the vote, Khan secured the most votes.
"We had only one day's notice to submit a name and so we called an emergency meeting to select someone, and based on Khan's ranking he got the nod" Christophe said, adding "he was the most suitable player but Jody [Blake] was considered also. Khan has been actively involved in all the tournaments last year. We also considered Godfrey [Munroe] but he was supposed to have migrated in January on a scholarship so we couldn't consider him. We also invited him [Munroe] to attend the emergency meeting but he did not turn up."
Matthew Khan
When told that Stabroek Sport has learnt that Jonathan Sankar's name has been submitted for the Wild Card entry since last year, Christophe said "as far as I know the submission was for the Wild Card, but his [Sankar] name was submitted last year for another programme." He did not specify what programme it was.
Another GTTA executive member Linden Johnson informed Stabroek Sport that those present at the emergency meeting in January were himself, Joel Wilburg, Christophe, Paul Prescott and the association's secretary Karen Cumberbatch.
When asked who the number one table tennis player in Guyana was, Wilburg, the association's treasurer, said: "One has to look at several things before coming out with a number one player. In my opinion Christophe, Munroe and Khan are the three top players in Guyana."
Asked how selections were done, Wilburg said the selection committee, which he chairs, meets and then passes a list of names to the association. The association then ratifies that list and comes up with a name/s for tournaments etc.
Johnson also admitted that Munroe was considered for possible selection, before his migration plans were known and that the alternatives were Khan and Blake.
Asked for the reasoning behind Khan's selection since he was not the number one player in Guyana, Wilburg said the GTTA received a document from the GOA in January, asking if Sankar's name was still to be submitted or whether there had been a replacement. He said the GTTA opted to replace Sankar since he was studying for the CXC examinations and was not training.
"The GOA suggested we put forward the best player for the programme and since Sankar was not training at the time due to examinations, the association met and toyed with the names of Khan and Blake, but khan won after a vote was taken," Wilburg said.
However, he said the GOA correspondence did not give full details and Christophe was mandated to find this out.
Quizzed on why United States based player Idi Lewis was not considered, Johnson said the association had not heard from Lewis for a long time and did not know whether he was still training or competing in the US.
Johnson admitted that Munroe would have been a better Wild Card selection, but noted that he had not attended the emergency meeting despite being invited.
In an invited comment, Munroe said: "initially I was told it was to be a trip to Spain for a three-month training period and that Jonathan Sankar was nominated. But I was later informed there would be a change of name and was asked who my nominee would be and I said Idi Lewis, because Lewis attended the world Championships and had a world ranking. But I was subsequently told by Sydney [Christophe] that the nominee would have been a Wild Card selection for the Olympics."
Munroe said he queried the basis for Khan's selection and was given the same response this newspaper received.
Munroe said if the selection was for training, "I would not have mind, but for the Olympics, Lewis would have been the ideal choice…
"When the International Olympic Committee (IOC) look at Wild Card nominees they also look at the person's ranking before they make their decision. We need to operate more transparently," Munroe said.