Natalie Cummings, the current women's champion of Guyana, recently returned from training in China. "The training stint in China offered a great opportunity to experience first-hand how the Chinese train," reported Cummings, adding, "China for many decades has the reputation of dominating the sport in both the men and women at every competitive level." Cummings, along with countrymen Joel Alleyne, Nigel Bryan and Elishaba Johnson, spent 30 days practicing at China's Hebei Zhengding Table Tennis Training Center. The trip was made possible thanks to a partnership between the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) and the Chinese Embassy in Georgetown. The Guyanese players have been training especially hard for the 2019 Caribbean Table Tennis Championships, to be held in their homeland. As well as battling to defend their home court, the players will be competing in the tournament in order to qualify for the 2019 Pan Am Games in Peru. With so much at stake, the intensive training will certainly come in handy. Said Joel Allenye, "I was able to completely focus on table tennis and ways to improve my level of table tennis. The environment created at the Zhengding Table Tennis Club allows one to comfortably focus on table tennis in detail, almost 24/7 without any distractions." Asked how she feels about the Guyanese team going into the Caribbean Championships, Cummings said, "We have every intention of winning." With their recent boost from training with the the best, they just might pull it off.

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