Junior Mash badminton… Ali, Khalil take U-19 titles

TIMES INT'L

The respective categories' winners pose with their medals and some parents of the participants

Nicholas Ali and Ashley Khalil have emerged the top male and female contestants respectively in the Under-19 category of the National Sports Commission’s (NSC) Junior Mashramani Badminton tournament, which concluded at the weekend at the Queens College courts.

Ali defeated Avian Rodrigues 21-13, 21-17 in the final, after breezing past Avinash Odit 21-4, 21-7 in the semi-final. Rodrigues was stretched to the limit in his semi-final encounter with Narayan Ramdhani, the match ending 21-14, 19-21, 21-12. In the third-place playoff, Ramdhani prevailed over Odit 21-18, 21-18.

In the Girls’ Under-19 competition, the multi-talented Khalil whipped Greer Jackson 21-6, 21-8, while Angelica Holder trounced Amrita Ramnauth 21-3, 21-2 in the third-place playoff.

The highly talented Priyanna Ramdhani defeated Ria Persram 21-2, 21-3 to take the Under-11 Girls’ Singles title; while Lea Latchmansingh got the better of Analisa Samaroo 21-6, 21-17 in the third-place game.

Ajave Singh won the Under-11 Boys’ Singles category after securing a 21-14, 21-10 win over Christopher Camacho in the final; while Joshua Singh won the third-place playoff.

The Under-15 Girls’ Singles competition was won by Greer Jackson, who defeated Angelica Holder 21-8, 21-14, while Narayan Ramdhani won the Boys’ division with a 19-21, 21-9, 21-9 victory over Christopher Shewjattan.

The top three finishers in each category received prizes. The presentation of medals was done by parents of the players on behalf of the NSC.

In reviewing the tournament, the Guyana Badminton Association (GBA), via a press release, stated that it was pleased to see the improvement in players such as Avinash Odit, Christopher Persaud, Christopher Camacho, Jonathan Mangra, Jonelle Europe, Sanjay Singh, Amrita Ramnauth, and Ria Persram. “The GBA is pleased to see the growth in the number of entries for the tournament, and this will help in the developmental plan towards the PanAm Junior Championships 2011, which is to take place in Jamaica in July,” the release stated.

The GBA will be competing mainly in the Under-11, Under-13 and Under-15 events, where Guyana has the strongest chance of ‘medalling.’

Related posts