ARUN ROOPNARINE, Derron Douglas and Shreya Maharaj topped the rankings in their respective categories in table tennis for the second year in succession. Just as he had done in 2013, Roopnarine finished last year with the most points in the under-18 division, but he fell from the top spot in the under-21 category.
Arch-rival Aaron Wilson, the top under-13 player at the end ’13, defeated Roopnarine in the under-21 final of all three tournaments – Silver Bowl Championships, Tobago Open Championships and National Championships – to finish with a grand total of 2,450 points in his first year in the division.
Roopnarine was 650 points adrift in second but he accumulated 250 more than the Caribbean under-19 runner-up to remain the top under-18 player with 2,250 points. The 17-year-old beat Wilson in the final of “Silver Bowl” and “Nationals”, but came up second best when they clashed for the title in the Tobago Open. Savresh Mungal was a distant third in both categories.
After finishing just 50 points behind Nalini Boodoo in second in the under-18 division in the previous year, Brittany Joseph finished on top this time with 2,250, 750 clear of the second-placed Boodoo and Gyshan Latchman.
However, the two-time defending national under-18 champ fell to second in the under-21 division after totaling 1,700 points, 550 less than the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games representative Catherine Spicer, who beat her in the finals of the Tobago Open and “Nationals”. Joseph finished the year third in the senior rankings, while Roopnarine and Wilson ended up tied for second as Curtis Humphreys ended in the top spot for the fifth year in succession. After finishing 150 points ahead of fellow Tobagonian Messiah Walcott at the end of ’13, Douglas had an even tougher time against his arch-rival and only finished 50 points in front with 2,800 in the under-11 age-group.
And for the second year in a row, Maharaj, who ended with 2,650 points, topped the girls’ equivalent category by just 50 points. This time nine-year-old Priyanka Khellawan was second, while last year’s runner-up Surjah Welch ended up 500 points behind Maharaj in third. Benoni Daniel and Shanekah Johnson joined Douglas as end-of-year champs from the sister isle.
Daniel finished the year with 2,350 points, 100 more than nearest challenger Joshua Maxwell in the under-15 category.
After ending up a whopping 1,320 points behind Jasher De Gannes in second in the under-13 age-group last year, Johnson finished 200 ahead of her fellow Tobagonian this year with 2,250. They contested two finals and split the meetings, but Johnson missed the Tobago Open and last year’s Caribbean under-13 champ De Gannes did not defend her title in “Nationals.”
National C class champ Jesse Dookie tallied 2,350 points and beat out Welch’s brother Jakeem by 100 points to be the top under-13 player, while Danielle Dick was the top under-15 player with 2,700 points, 250 more than runner-up Boodoo. Wilson and Joseph will represent the sport in the First Citizens Junior Awards on Friday (Johnny see if you could find out the venue.