Godette strikes Gold at Junior CAREBACO Championships

Anjaneysa Godette, on Tuesday, capped off Guyana’s campaign at the CAREBACO Junior Badminton Championships in Jamaica with a Gold medal performance in the Girls’ Under-13 Singles event.
Godette booked her spot in the gold medal match with a 21-8, 21-10 victory over Brea Grant of Jamaica on Monday. In the feature game on Tuesday, Godette downed another Jamaican opponent in Aaqilah Akuri 2-1 to clinch gold. After missing out on the first set 15-21, Godette rebounded well and went on to take the next two sets 21-9, 21-10.
The gold medal comes on the heels of a U13 Mixed Doubles bronze she earned alongside compatriot Joel Rambiriche the day prior. The duo secured their spot in the mixed doubles semi-final by virtue of a 21-18, 21-13 victory over Jamaican duo Kai Ye and Wynter Zhang in the quarter-finals.
However, that semi-final match saw the Guyanese pair going down to Barbados’ Siraj Brathwaite and Zaria Mayers 16-21, 17-21, but as is the case in most racquet sports, the duo secured bronze for reaching the semis.

The same was the case for Rambiriche in the U13 Boys’ singles as he missed out on a spot in the final, falling to Liam Bruce of Barbados, 3-21, 5-21, in the singles semi-final, thus capturing bronze. Rambiriche had assured himself of, at least, a bronze medal when he overcame Jamaica’s Kai Ye, 21-16, 21-17, in the quarter-finals.
Additionally, Rambiriche had teamed up with Trinidad and Tobago’s Neo Gajadhar for the U13 Boys’ doubles, in which they claimed another bronze as their campaign ended in the semi-final round.
The Guyana Badminton Association (GBA) sent a seven-member team to the championships in Jamaica, which also comprised Christoper Jordan, Chioke Nurse, Ruel Rambiriche, Nicholas Pollard and Percival Chester. Senior National Champion Priyanna Ramdhani performed the duties as Coach while Sonia Bachir served as Team Manager.
The National Junior team, in anticipation of the competition, were trained by international coach Kartikey Gund of India in the weeks leading up to the competition. The GBA has contracted Gund for a six-month stint to work with the country’s Badminton players, a move that has already paid dividends for the sport locally.