– Coach Gokarn Ramdhani satisfied with overall performance of youngsters
BY AVENASH RAMZAN
Guyana’s bronze medallist Priyanna Ramdhani (front), her teammates and coach Gokarn Ramdhani (right) proudly display the Golden Arrowhead in Jamaica
Local badminton sensation Priyanna Ramdhani copped bronze – Guyana’s lone medal – in the Under-11 Mixed Doubles at the Pan American Junior Badminton Championship, which concluded at the weekend in Kingston, Jamaica.
The pint-sized nine-year-old matched her efforts of last year, when she also copped bronze at the same championship in the Dominican Republic.
Priyanna teamed up with Pedro Vasques of El Salvador to cop the medal in the Under-11 Mixed Doubles event at the National Indoor Sports Centre. It was a tough examination for the Guyanese players, who were up against first and second seeded players in the opening round of the tournament, which attracted participation from 16 countries.
Guyana competed in the Under-11, Under-15, Under-17, and Under-19 categories.
Overall, Priyanna made it to the semi- final of the Under-11 Mixed Doubles and the Quarter-final of the Girls’ Doubles events. Christopher Camacho made it to the Quarter-finals of the Under-11 Singles and Doubles events. Narayan Ramdhani made it to the Quarter-finals of the Under-15 Doubles event; while Kevin Quaicoe (U-17), Greer Jackson (U-17), Avinash Odit (U-19), Nicholas Ali (U-19), Christopher Persaud (U-19), and Tricia Ramjit (U-19) all made it through to Round Two of their respective categories.
President of the Guyana Badminton Association, national coach Gokarn Ramdhani, who accompanied the players on the trip, said he’s generally satisfied with the performance of the team.
“Yes, I’m generally satisfied with the effort, especially since the players were up against top-seeded players in the first round. As they progressed, though, they were on par with the others,” Ramdhani commented.
What was more remarkable about the performance of the Guyanese was that they were competing on synthetic courts as opposed to the concrete court which they train on here.
“We need an indoor synthetic or rubberised court; that’s the only way forward for much higher results,” Ramdhani observed.
Apart from Guyana, the other competing countries were Jamaica, Canada, U.S.A., Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Trinidad and Tobago, the Dominican Republic, Barbados, Puerto Rico, and Ecuador.
