Robert Bailey, Freelance Writer

Sandra Riettie, head coach of Jamaica's male and female Under-15 table tennis teams, is confident both teams can give a good account of themselves at this year's Latin American Cadet and Junior Table Tennis Championships, to be held in Cartagena, Colombia, from June 13-17.

Riettie told The Gleaner ahead of their departure today that despite the level of inexperience she is expecting a good showing.

Confident

"This is a very young team and I am expecting them to do very well at this championships," she said.

"We are very confident because without confidence we aren't going to reach anywhere, and I believe that we can go down there and put up a good showing," Riettie continued.

She added that the preparation has been going well as most of the players have been playing in a number of local events, which helped in their build-up.

"This is going to be a very hard tournament for us because we will be going up against a number of teams from Latin America, and I know most of these teams are just coming out of training camps in China and Spain," Riettie pointed out.

Both local teams earned qualification after finishing first and third, respectively, in Guyana in April, to qualify for this stage of the worldwide series being organised by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

Good performances again in Colombia will qualify them for the World Cadet Finals to be staged in Helsingborg, Sweden, in October.

World Junior Championships

The female team will be led by national champion Yvonne Foster (Meadowbrook High) and is completed by Ashli Alexander (Ardenne), Kristen McKenzie (Campion) and Shaunda Brash (Bishop Gibson High).

The male team comprises Nicholas Mahfood (American International School of Kingston), John-Marc Chambers (St Georges' College) and Kristen's brother, Jordan McKenzie (Campion).

Simon Tomlinson of Ardenne High, who also qualified from Guyana, will travel to Colombia to compete in the under-18 singles event, and if he finishes in the top three he will go on to play in the World Junior Championships, to be held in New Zealand in December.