“It’s no secret that working hard seems to be the deciding factor between those with talent who fail, and others who put that talent to work and excel”. That is one of the most famous quotes affiliated with hard work. And if that is too perplexed to comprehend then the following quotes should simplify the first quote; “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth and Marvin Phillips-“The difference between try and triumph is just a little umph!”.
The three gold medals that Priyanna Ramdhani won were added to her collection to take the tally to 160 medals and trophiesGuyanese players show off their medals-from left to right Narayan Ramdhani, Jonathan Mangra, Ambika Ramraj and Priyanna Ramdhani.
The aforementioned quotes define why our badminton players excelled at the Caribbean Championships which recently concluded in Aruba; they worked extremely hard. The Guyanese players were outstanding in both the team and individual championships against Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Aruba.
National junior sportsman of the year Narayan Ramdhani, former junior sportswoman of the year Priyanna Ramdhani, Jonathan Mangra and Ambika Ramraj formed a remarkable quartet that won Guyana 14 medals (two (2) gold, nine (9) silver and three (3) bronze). It was very incredible by the Guyanese athletes since their team of four was the smallest contingent at the event. It is even more noteworthy because all of them won medals.
However, even though it was a team competition and the Guyanese were on top it was Priyanna Ramdhani who was the most outstanding of the Guyanese as she won Guyana all of its gold. She won gold in the under-15 and under-19 girls singles before teaming up with a player from Dominica to win the mixed under-19 title. The 14 year old who was national junior sportswoman of the year in 2011 also won several silver medals and a bronze as well.
In an invited comment via social media Manager/Coach of the team Gokarn Ramdhani, said “dedication, hard work and discipline….take for example Priyanna and Narayan train all year round, don’t take time off . Even during exams they train. You can clearly see it paid off.”
In addition he outlined what is on the agenda for these players in the future; “Keep on training for the upcoming tournaments, build their world ranking points and keep badminton alive as Narayan our no. Player left yesterday for Vancouver for his 5 year scholarship and train for 2020.”
The next assignments for Guyanese badminton players are the South American Youth Games and the Commonwealth Games.
The Guyana Badminton body is looking forward to having more support and recognition for its players as they have proven to be the best over the last seven years medaling at almost all the tournaments they attend in the Caribbean, Pan American, South American and Inter-Guiana’s Games.
The following is the medals haul by the four outstanding Guyana players:
UNDER-19 INTERNATIONAL;
Narayan Ramdhani: 2-SILVERS/-BRONZE. Priyanna Ramdhani: 1-SiILVER/1-BRONZE. Jonathan Mangra: 1-SILVER
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: 5-SILVERS
Narayan Ramdhani, Jonathan Mangra, Priyanna Ramdhani, Ambika Ramraj and Coach
The Guyana Badminton Association (GBA) would like to thank Mohamed’s Enterprise, Republic Bank, NSC, BK International, Hand in Hand Insurance, Crown Mining, Gio Tech and Cosmopolitan Trading.
