Carpenay & Chung, Watson & Perreira are doubles champs

2020 GUMDAC Badminton Championships…

Darrell Carpenay & Marlon Chung, and Ayanna Watson & Christina Kumar outplayed a field of paired teams to emerge champions of the annual GUMDAC Open Doubles Badminton Championships, which were played last Saturday at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue.

More than 10 pairs competed in the two categories. In the men’s doubles quarterfinals, Akili Haynes and Tyrese Jeffrey overcame Shekhar Mallampati and Vincent Raja in two straight sets: 21-2, 21-10. Easa Sanichara and Avian Rodrigues defeated William Holder & Haymant Ramdhani 21-6, 21-9; and Jonathan Mangra and Avinash Odit bested Anthony Stephens and Johann Waldron 21-13, 21-10.
Semifinal action saw Darrell Carpenay and Marlon Chung cruising into the final by defeating Akili Haynes and Tyrese Jeffrey in a thrilling three-set game: 21-20, 14-21, 24-22.

And after a shaky first set, Jonathan Mangra and Avinash Odit defeated Easa Sanichara and Avian Rodrigues 14-21, 21-15, 21-16 to take the last spot in the final showdown.
In that electrifying final clash, Jonathan Mangra & Avinash Odit took the first set 19-21 from Darrell Carpenay and Marlon Chung, who had come close to winning it. However, Carpenay and Chung persevered to win the other two games, and the championship, 21-9, 21-19.
In play in the female division, Ayanna Watson and Christina Kumar easily won their semifinal encounter with Alea Ruplal and Priyanka Shivnauth in two straight sets: 21-10, 21-3.
It was the same for Emelia Ramdhani and Anna Perreira, whose match with Jayde DaSilva and Mishka Beharry could be described as a proverbial walk in the park, which they won 21-11, 21-9 to earn themselves a spot in the final.
The ladies’ final was as entertaining as the men’s, with Ayanna Watson and Christina Kumar being made to work for their gold medal. Coming up against Emelia Ramdhani and Anna Perreira, Watson and Kumar lost the first set, but bounced back in the next two to take the championship 14-21, 21-11, 21-11.
At conclusion of the tournament, the Guyana Badminton Association (GBA) has expressed gratitude to sponsors GUMDAC for sticking with the association for a seventh year; and to Banks DIH and SOL Petroleum for their very valued contributions.