'Indescribable' - Guyana's Edghill bursting with pride after historic Olympic table tennis achievement

By Javid Bryan July 29, 2021

Guyana’s Chelsea Edghill has confessed to bursting with pride after becoming the first female table tennis player from the English-speaking Caribbean to play at the Olympic Games.  

The former Caribbean women’s under-21 champion made her Olympic Games debut last Saturday, defeating her opponent Sally Yee of Fiji in the preliminary round.  Edghill won that battle emphatically, beating Yee 11-5, 4-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-8.

However, the 24-year-old then suffered a straight-sets defeat at the hands of 17-year-old Yubin Shin of South Korea, in Round One of the Women’s Singles on Saturday.

Overwhelmed by the feat, the Guyanese international shared her experience with SportsMax.tv.

“It was a very happy and emotional feeling to be the first Guyanese to play in the Olympics for table tennis, it’s a huge honour and a huge feat,” Edghill said.

“I am really happy and elated to be able to accomplish such a feat, it’s indescribable how it feels.  I am full with pride, I am very proud to represent Guyana and touch the stage, and very proud of the history I made for Guyana,” she added.

Edghill and swimmer Andrew Fowler were Guyana’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony in Tokyo, Japan, last Friday.

Related items

  • Curators and grounds staff workshop reap benefits ahead of T20 World Cup Curators and grounds staff workshop reap benefits ahead of T20 World Cup

    The men and women who will be responsible for the preparations of the pitches and fields for the upcoming ICC Men’s Twenty20 (T20) World Cup, are now well equipped with the tool of the trade. Following a two-week series of workshops, the ground staff across the region went through theory and practical sessions geared towards education and re-education on the rudiment of their crucial roles.

    Over 100 participants completed the workshop series, which included both indoor educational sessions and outdoor practical events. The events were led by senior officials of Cricket West Indies (CWI).

    Winston Reid, the Lead Curator for the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA), lauded the initiative, which he hopes will continue beyond the World Cup.

    Reid, who is based at Kensington Oval in Barbados, the venue that will host the June 29 World Cup final, had a hugely successful cricket career when he played over 100 matches at the regional level for Barbados. He joined the staff at the historic venue in 2005, ahead of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2007.

    “This was a very good initiative by the ICC [International Cricket Council], CWI [Cricket West Indies] and the BCA [Barbados Cricket Association]. This is something that should be encouraged, and I know the staff here benefited tremendously. It was a wonderful eye-opener, an education in many ways it was enlightening and interactive and the responses I got from the others who participated, said to me it was clear they too benefitted in a meaningful way,” Reid said.

    “The reason behind the workshop was to improve in every way we can and to do better at our jobs. We are gearing up towards the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which will be the biggest event we have ever hosted. We will be staging the final here, at this magnificent venue, so we want to make sure everyone is fully equipped.

    “Not only for Kensington, but for curatorship at all the other venues around the island and the region. We want to see better pitches and fields and playing conditions for our players to show their skills and also to entertain the fans in the stands. So, this was a very timely workshop series which augurs well for the game in the West Indies going forward," he added.

    Roland Holder, CWI Manager of Cricket Operations and Head of Cricket for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, outlined the reasons behind the series of workshops. He said the series was crafted by CWI and designed to upskill existing curators across the region by exposing them to international best practices for pitch preparation and applicable maintenance, while simultaneously expanding the cadre of curators by identifying new talent with the appropriate combination of theoretical knowledge and practical exposure, to lend further expertise to match venues to deliver a world-class event in June.

    A CWI Curators Manual was also produced in the lead up to the workshop and will be disseminated to the curators.

    Six countries in the West Indies will host matches in the ninth edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup which will be played from June 1-29. West Indies, which hosted the event in 2010, will hold matches at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua; Kensington Oval, Barbados; Guyana National Stadium, Guyana; Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, Saint Lucia; Arnos Vale, St Vincent and Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago.

    The event will be the largest in the tournament’s history with 20 international teams playing 55 matches across nine locations. It is the first time USA will host matches at a T20 World Cup, with 16 first-round matches split between Nassau County International Cricket Stadium (New York), Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium (Dallas), and Broward County Stadium (Lauderhill).

  • Lack of funding for deaf swimmers is ‘completely isolating a whole disability’ Lack of funding for deaf swimmers is ‘completely isolating a whole disability’

    One of the UK’s fastest deaf swimmers has spent more than 1,000 days campaigning against “discriminatory” policies that deny him funding.

    Nathan Young, a holder of seven national records, is not entitled to any Government or National Lottery money to support his ambitions.

    The reason is that UK Sport, the agency which allocates funding on behalf of those entities, is focused solely on Olympic and Paralympic sports.

    As deafness on its own is not a discipline in the Paralympics, Wirral-based Young, 24, falls outside its criteria.

    He is eligible to compete in the Deaflympics – the multi-sport event for deaf athletes sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee – but Great Britain does not financially back its entrants, unlike some other countries.

    The only central funding available for solely deaf athletes is at grassroots level, with nothing for elite competitors such as Young.

    That has left him needing to work and fundraise alongside his training to ensure he is able to meet the huge outlay needed to compete on the global stage.

    For most of the last three years, he has also spent a large amount of his time running a campaign to get the parameters for funding changed, believing the current rules to be unfair.

    “At the end of the day it’s discrimination,” said Young, whose campaign passed the 1,000-day mark in February.

    “It’s completely isolating a whole disability. If I was a Paralympic swimmer, I would have been getting paid since I was 16 or 17. It could have been a career that I could have had.

    “Right now, I train, I go to the gym but all the other things I should be getting as what you would class as an elite athlete, I don’t get any of it.

    “Others have the best treatment available to them to keep them going mentally, physically and in every aspect. I should be getting physio, doing strength and conditioning but I get none of that.

    “When I’m training right now, I’m thinking I should be working. It’s not what I should be thinking about.”

    Young’s campaigning has involved giving numerous speeches and interviews as well as writing many letters and articles. He has also contacted MPs and, as part of a wider campaign with UK Deaf Sport, has even visited Parliament.

    With UK Sport funding for recent Olympic/Paralympic cycles being around £300million, it is a source of frustration for Young that not even a relatively small amount can be found for Deaflympians.

    “What we’re asking for is so little,” said Young, who might need to find around £3,000 to fund a trip to next year’s Deaflympics in Tokyo.

    “UK Deaf Sport only asked for £4million for us (deaf athletes), which is so little when there’s £300-and-something million for Olympic and Paralympic sport.

    “We’re getting the same responses. We keep pushing it and pushing it but it’s been over 1,000 days now and it’s been an exhausting journey.”

    A UK Sport statement read: “UK Sport’s remit is specifically focused on investing in sports and athletes who are eligible to compete at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

    “The Deaflympics falls outside of Olympic and Paralympic sport. We are therefore unable to fund athletes targeting this event.”

    A spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: “This Government is dedicated to making sport in this country accessible and inclusive for everyone, including deaf people.

    “Sport England has committed £1.2million between 2022 and 2027 to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level through widening participation and supporting the development pathway for talented athletes.”

  • Republic Bank CPL creates record economic impact in Guyana Republic Bank CPL creates record economic impact in Guyana

    The Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) created a record total economic impact of US$101,683,135 for Guyana during the 2023 tournament.

     There were six regular season matches and four playoff matches in Guyana between the 13th and 24th September and the tournament concluded in front of a sell-out home crowd at the Providence Stadium with the Guyana Amazon Warriors claiming their first CPL title.

     The Economic impact study was compiled by World renowned research organisation, YouGov Sport who reported on the impact CPL had on the local economy. A lot of factors are taken into account, though the key economic drivers are organiser spend, visitor spend and media value for Guyana.

    During the CPL window, the tournament was responsible for filling a record 23,217 hotel room nights in Guyana, made up by CPL’s significant cohort which included players, coaches, administrators, TV and media crews, team owner groups, league and franchise event management teams, alongside overseas visitors who arrived to watch the games. A large part of the total economic impact figure came from the money spent by these overseas visitors who spent a considerable amount of time in Guyana during the CPL matches, enjoying the many activities put on as part of the Cricket Carnival.

    Guyana also benefited from the tournament being broadcast around the world with CPL’s total audience reaching 853.5million viewers. As always, the tournament worked closely with the local tourism authorities to create world class content which highlighted the fantastic eco-tourism opportunities that exist in this stunning country. These exclusive features and vignettes were shown during the CPL matches, further promoting the tourism message to a global audience.

    Pete Russell, Republic Bank CPL’s CEO, said: “The conclusion of the 2023 tournament was certainly dramatic, as all eyes were on Guyana to see the Amazon Warriors claim their first CPL title. This was a fantastic moment for the country and it is extremely rewarding to have seen both the social and economic impact the tournament had in Guyana, with the figures released today confirming what we all felt during those memorable 11 days last September.

    “Having the showpiece finale the Biggest Party in Sport in Guyana was certainly a huge success and these numbers show how sports tourism can leave a significant and lasting legacy.”

    Kamrul Baksh, Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority, said: “The Caribbean Premier League (CPL) has been a game-changer for Guyana’s tourism industry. More specifically, since becoming the host nation of the CPL finals in 2022, Guyana’s visitor arrivals have significantly increased by 131% from 2022 to 2023. This is the highest number of visitors for September on record. In just two years, the rush of cricket fans and travellers from around the world has filled our hotels and restaurants and provided opportunities for local businesses to thrive. The CPL has not only brought exciting matches but has also displayed Guyana’s rich culture and natural beauty worldwide, reinforcing our status as a leading tourism destination. We aim to capitalise on this success, leveraging sports tourism to drive steady economic development.”

     

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.