KANE WATSON, proud Fortisan, recently captured the national singles crown at the 2011 Jamaica Table Tennis Association (JTTA) championships, belatedly held in December. Watson in capturing his first national senior singles title joins the fortis pantheon of greatness inhabited by the likes of Richard Stephenson, Colin McNeish and Randy Fagan: a distinguished list of purple-bloodied players to have captured the coveted award. These players were a part of the legacy of table tennis excellence achieved by The College during three clearly defined periods of dominance.
The win was Watson's second triumph in a JTTA senior tournament as he had secured the singles title (and cash reward) at the Extreme Spin tournament, three weeks earlier. In capturing both titles, Kane displayed the type of intestinal fortitude and grit that is embodied in our famous motto and in the process converted many non-believers.
The win capped a very successful year for the fortis brigade as it represented a continuation of the rich vein of form exhibited in 2011. Competing under the club name 'Furia', the trio of Watson, Dale Parham and Darryl Strachan had earlier captured the JTTA Division 1 Club League title as well as the club section of the UTECH CLASSICS.
The school team had captured the urban and all-island titles.
Darryl Strachan, who returned to the sport in 2011 after an almost 3-year hiatus (unfortunately sidelined for several months by injury and work commitments in the second half of the year) had also captured the Men's Singles title at the St. James Tournament, where both Watson and Parham were "in the money".
Kane is the son of renowned sculptor Basil Watson and grandson of iconic artist Barrington Watson.
Kane recently donned the national colours at the 2011 Caribbean Senior Championships.
Michael Strachan
Management Consultant
381-0165, tabletennisjamaica @yahoo.com