Over 200 entries have already been received for the inaugural staging of the Kingston and St Andrew Table Tennis Association (KSTTA) Andrey Dryakin Table Tennis Tournament to be held this Saturday at the UTech Auditorium, starting at 9:00 am.

This was disclosed by director Stephen Grant at the launch held at the offices of the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) on Thursday.

Grant told the audience that entries are coming in quite fast, and it is wide open to players from all the parishes in the island.

“The highlight of the tournament will be the men’s and women’s singles open Division ‘A’ where you will find Jamaica’s top-ranked players vying for cash awards and trophies,” Grant said.

He also said that trophies and cash prizes will also be awarded for men’s and women’s singles in Division ‘B’ and Division ‘C’. “If you don’t want to play in the Open against the big guns, you can play in these divisions,” he added.

Grant said trophies and medals will be presented to the top three players in nine-and-under boys and girls, 11-and-under boys and girls, 13-and-under boys and girls, 15-and-under boys and girls, and 17 and under boys and girls.

Guest speaker Michael “Mike” Fennell, president of the JOA, said this tournament is important for table tennis players, as it is going to be part of their development.

“When I saw that Jamaica did not qualify to participate in the Rio Olympic Games in Brazil last year, I said to myself something must have gone wrong. So table tennis needs a solid base to start its development of players,” Fennell said.

“I congratulate Table Tennis Jamaica for the fantastic work they have done, along with the Kingston and St Andrew Table Tennis Association for staging the Andrey Dryakin Tournament. This should allow other parishes to follow, as the sport can be played anywhere and everywhere,” he added.

According to Fennell, the parish competitions will be very important as they will certainly identify the players with the ability so that their talent would be developed. “Each parish should form its own table tennis association in order to develop the sport.”

Meanwhile, Dryakin said he was very honoured that KSTTA had chosen him and he will be looking for a successful staging.

“As a former player, I would like more young people to get involved in playing table tennis as it does not cost much money as other sports. I started to play the sport as a six-year-old and played for 12 years,” said Dryakin, who is a diplomat at the Russian Embassy in Jamaica.

Dryakin said he has been in Jamaica for the past five years and his duties at the embassy will end in April, and he hopes to remain in contact with Table Tennis Jamaica (TTJ) and also will try and bring equipment for schools and communities to develop the sport throughout Jamaica.

Monique Grange, information and public affairs officer of WINDALCO, the main sponsors, said her company was happy to be associated with this initiative as investing in the nation’s youth through sport development is an important component.

“As such we are always eager to support programmes like these, and we would like to lend our support to any project or activity aimed at enhancing development, education and social and economic growth,” Grange said.

“We hope that each player participating in the tournament, more so our children, will learn values of teamwork, discipline, sacrifice on how to deal with success and failures, the value of practice and preparation, and how to set and strive for goals,” added Grange.

She thanked the other sponsors for coming on board and wished the organisers and players a very successful tournament.