Badminton Independence tournament a success – Ramdhani

Familiar faces and some unexpected heroes emerged victorious over the weekend as the Guyana Badminton Association staged their 60th Independence Jubilee tournament.
The event came alive at the National Gymnasium from Thursday to Sunday last, with cash and prizes on the line for eager competitors.
As the dust settled at the Mandela Avenue venue, not only was the tournament deemed a success, but Tournament Director Priyanna Ramdhani also appreciated the opportunity to test new upgrades to the Guyana Badminton Association’s (GBA) hosting capabilities.

Ramdhani told this publication, “We extended the tournament days from three to four so the players could rest. We had Under-23 men’s and women’s singles, open men’s and women’s doubles, mixed doubles, and men’s and women’s singles, and the competition so far has been great. We have a lot of familiar faces in the final, and everyone is working hard. It has been a successful tournament.”
“We’ve upgraded to tournament software where all our matches could be shown online and everything could be sent out. We also had livestreaming for the finals, which I’d like to thank the Nex Gen Sports for doing,” she divulged.
Discussing some surprising results across categories, Ramdhani hailed the growth of the up-and-coming players.
The tournament director explained, “The women’s doubles semi-finals with Mishka and LeShaunte came out on top over Ashley and her partner Abosaide, and we also had Asiyah Eastman and Menishki Jaikissoon beat the number two seed, Anna and Amande, very experienced players. The girls are coming up good, and it’s good to see the next talents.”
Highlighting their ability to provide cash prizes for this competition, the National Champion expressed the GBA’s elation at being a part of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports’ line-up of competitions.
Ramdhani expressed, “It’s a happy opportunity to be able to host the sports festival for the Independence Day. I mean, this is a big thing for Guyana, our 60th Independence, and Badminton is so glad to be a part of the festival as well.”
“Too bad I couldn’t play,” Ramdhani joked, “but I’d like to thank the Government of Guyana and the NSC for sponsoring this, and we also have cash prizes for the winners, and that’s a good step for us.”
Akili Haynes, Mishka Beharry, Ashley Khalil and Frank Waddell were amongst the weekend’s top performers.