Hubert Lawrence | Table Tennis on the spin

Last week's 60th Caribbean Table Tennis Championships wasn't the lightning rod it might have been for the local game. It was, however, a show of the faith the region has in Jamaica by allowing Table Tennis Jamaica to host its biggest tournament. After all, Jamaica missed the Caribbean event from 2011 to 2016.

Sadly, muted promotion left word of mouth to inform potential patrons. After a good start with introductions of players and officials before every match on the first two days of the event, the announcements stopped. Day after day, those who did come faithfully asked the following questions again and again: Who's playing? What stage is the tournament at? Is this a break?

The matter escalated when some players ran out of shirts with their national colours. At that stage, only the keenest observers could tell which player was which and the country he or she represented.

On the last day of the tournament, Saturday, September 29, the session containing the men's and women's singles semi-finals began at 9 a.m. The finals were finished before 1 p.m. Several fans came in to watch the finals between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., only to see the presentation of medals and awards.

A more fan- friendly schedule, along with consistently good announcing and a tournament programme, would have helped.

So would a strong Jamaican team. Three medals, a silver for Kane Watson and Simon Tomlinson in doubles and bronze medals for Andrea Wadsworth and Rudolph Sinclair in their respective 45-and-over singles, hardly tickled the fancy. There is much work to be done to make Jamaica strong, including the provision of better facilities and overseas exposure of our players.

As things stood last week, only Watson and Tomlinson looked like they could match their opponents, and sheared of quality match practice, they sometimes struggled at key moments. Tomlinson lost one of the best matches of the tournament, a 5-set slug fest to artful Barbadian chopper Tyrese Knight, the Under-21 runner-up. Down 2-0, Tomlinson revved up his fast-attacking game and levelled at 2-2, only to lose the decider.

Choppers are few and far between these days. Accordingly, Knight troubled everyone he faced last week, but more international match practice might have swung that encounter Simon's way. Critically, Jamaica missed the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in July, where most of its Caribbean championships rivals sharpened their swords.

One Jamaican coach said it best. Outside of Watson and Tomlinson who trained and played tournaments in the US this summer, our team trained exclusively here. Speaking about the young women's team, he said, "Without outside experience, they'll be in trouble. We can't stay home and win and beat these people."

Low point

The low point came when two of the little ladies missed their doubles assignments because the vehicle carrying them from Spanish Town to the National Arena broke down. Only then did it become clear that the Jamaican team wasn't housed at the athletes village in Kingston.

Still, the championship was invigorating. Adorned with new tables and surrounds, the Arena looked great. The dominant Dominican Republic team played like professionals, with the resolute Guyanese standing in their way most of the time. The latter country is next year's hosts and with its pair of Under-21 champions, Chelsea Edghill and Shemar Britton, are sure to threaten at home.

To compete well there next February, our players will need to do more than just train hard. They will need help to travel, train and compete with players who will stretch them. Either that, or such players will need to come here. If things stay the same, it won't be pretty.

- Hubert Lawrence has made notes at trackside since 1980.