Tennis making a firm ground

Ahmed Dawlatly, the Egyptian Table tennis coach on a four-month stint here is making his presence felt. Dawlatly has a huge task in the short time he has here, but he is settling into his task.

Besides his approved duties, Dawlatly has showed a level of humility and joined a squad of volunteers in getting the Old Government Printery Building ready for the Scotia Bank 2005 firms and Industrial tennis championships.{{more}}

The Egyptian used a paintbrush, hammer, broom and other tools to render a face lift to the abandoned facility in preparation for the tournament, which is into high gear.

Twelve teams in two groups are vying for team, as well as singles and Doubles trophies.

The teams are Group A: Police, Frank B Armstrong, British American Insurance, Computec, National Lotteries Authority, and KPMG.

In Group B, the teams are: Media House, Cable & Wireless, Corea’s Hazel Inc, National Commercial Bank, S. G. Defreitas, and Irie Travel. The final is carded for the Old Government Printery Building August 19.

Police are the defending team champions and National Broadcasting Corporation’s Glenford Prescod is the Singles champion.

Keen competition has already characterized the tournament.

Teams have gained valuable insight into the game through Dawlatly’s insistence.

And the tennis wagon is picking up speed. Dawlatly will also be focussing his attention on preparation of a squad for the Caribbean Junior tennis Championship carded for Trinidad and Tobago August 30 to September 5.

An eight member party is in training under Dawlatly: They are: Richard Morris, Akeen Greene, Kandis Franklyn (Georgetown Secondary School), Kamal Hunte, Romano Spencer, Eldin Francois, Damian Dublin, and Kekeisha McLean (Campden Park Secondary School).