After an outstanding run in the Li Ning BWF World Junior Mixed Teams Championship last week, the Guyanese junior badminton team are showing steady improvements in their competitiveness on the International level.
Priyanna Ramdhani, Akili Haynes and Tyrese Jeffrey
The team comprising Priyanna Ramdhani, Jayde Da Silva, Tyrese Jeffrey and Akili Haynes are now engaged in the Li Ning BWF World Junior Championships, where they are now taking on their international opponents individually. The competition began on Monday in Markham, Canada and will run until Sunday, November 18.
The Guyanese team have so far gotten off to a rough start in the individual competition as they faced tough opponents who are ranked much higher.
The 16-year-old Ramdhani, in the women’s singles division, found herself pitted against Fatima Rio of Mexico. In the early stages of the game, Ramdhani proved to be equally skilled, but Rio’s experience prevailed in the Mexican’s 13-21, 14-21 win.
Over in the men’s singles category, both Haynes and Jeffrey represented Guyana. Haynes was drafted to take on Slovakia’s Andrej Antoska, and he made light work of the Guyanese in two straight sets 8-21, 7-21.
On the other hand, Jeffrey suffered a similar fate with an almost matching scorecard when he met with Chinese Taipei’s Cheng Shiau Chen for their encounter. The match finished with Chen recording a commanding win over the Guyanese 21-7, 21-5.
The Guyanese males later paired up for the men’s doubles, where they were unable to match skill with Yichen Shang and Weikeng Liang of China. The Chinese pair had an easy win 5-21, 4-21.
Another pairing of Guyanese players saw Ramdhani and Jeffrey becoming a duo for the mixed doubles category. There, they met Chong Leong and Teng Cheong of Macau. It was a hard-fought battle between the two teams, but the Guyanese were unable to pull through in a 12-21, 18-21 battle.
The four-member Guyanese team’s participation in the mixed team championships resulted in Guyana’s rankings climbing to 32 out of over 175 countries that play badminton. Additionally, the tournament has been a great platform for Guyanese players to test their skills against international competition.
