It was a case of a ‘little axe cutting down big trees’ when nine-year-old prodigy Jasmine Billingy showed true heart and skill to battle her way to Gold in the women’s U-21 category at the Guyana Table Tennis Association’s (GTTA) National Championships on Saturday evening at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) on Mandela Avenue.
The little southpaw had Titans club-mates in her path to gold, U-15 Champion Thuraia Thomas who she eased past before she triumphed over U-18 Champion Crystal Melville to take the title.
It was decided in a round robin format; she played three matches and won all three to rack up a maximum of six points.
She dispatched Samara Sukhai for starters with a 3-1 win in sets of 11-8, 7-11, 11-4 and 11-7 then inflicted a 3-1 victory over Thomas in sets of 11-7, 11-9, 10-12 and 11-8.
The diminutive racquet-wielder was dominant in her 3-0 win over Melville, taking that match in sets of 13-11, 11-7 and 11-5.
Meanwhile, Thomas defeated both Melville (3-2 in sets of 11-4, 11-8, 6-11, 5-11, 11-5) and Sukhai (3-0 in sets of 11-3, 11-5, 11-4) to finish second, with Melville settling for third.
The male U-21 division is headed to the final which will be played on Sunday and current U-15 and U-18 junior champion Jonathan Van Lange, who will be eyeing a clean sweep will have Elishaba Johnson today in his way.
In the semi-finals on Saturday, Van Lange got past his club-mate, the current Caribbean Mini and Pre-Cadet TT bronze medal winner Colin Wong 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-2), while Johnson edged past Isaiah Layne in a thrilling 3-2 clash (11-8, 9-11, 11-4, 11-13, 11-8).
In the quarter-final, Wong had shown his class to dispose of National Junior U-15 and U-18 silver medalist Kaysan Ninvalle in a 3-0 win (sets of 11-7, 11-8, 11-8).
The C Class Open will also be played on Sunday with Troy McRae, who defeated Billingy in a tense and exciting clash 3-2 (11-7, 12-10, 3-11, 6-11, 13-11) meeting Kyle Chung in the final.
Chung booked his spot in the final by beating Narren Persaud 3-1 (13-11, 6-11, 11-8, 14-12).
