Barbados top table tennis players will not be able to serve their best shots as the 2020 Caribbean Championship in Rosario, Cuba, has been cancelled because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
President of the Barbados Table Tennis Association (BTTA), Dale ‘Mistah Dale’ Rudder said they were awaiting official word from the International Table Tennis Federation to indicate how the schedule would be readjusted.
Rudder told Barbados TODAY that until then the local association would play everything daily by ear as development occurs. He said apart from the regional championship which was supposed to be held last month in Cuba, the only other thing they were looking forward to was the Olympic Qualifiers.
In fact, he serenaded the words “prevention is better than cure”. Rudder stated that safety was paramount during this time and that is why members of the BTTA were not so eager to compete at any national championships at this time.
“We got to think of safety first. I find that people are in a real hurry to resume business as usual. But I honestly don’t think business, as usual, is anytime soon. This is a new kind of normal where people have to get accustomed especially for a sport like ours.
“We have to get accustomed to that fact that you are only allowed ten or 20 people in the centre at any time. That they would have to be more stringent rules as it relates to the people coming in, checking in and out of the building, head count, sanitation.
“ It is a whole process and it is one that we would have to sit with the Ministry of Sport and really have a proper roll-out plan. It is not just a matter of we can start back again ‘let’s go out’. Checking the world news, a lot of countries that were in a hurry to resume business as usual have been hit with tons of new infections,” Dale said.
morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb
