West Indian Sports Complex Badminton Tournament…
Akili Haynes, Tyrese Jeffrey and Priyanka Shivnauth are only a few of the outstanding players that emerged from the recently-concluded West Indian Sports Complex Christmas Badminton Tournament.
Pegged as the final hurrah for the Guyana Badminton Association (GBA) for the year 2019, the exciting tournament went down on Sunday last at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue.
Notably the highlight of the tournament, outstanding junior champion Akili Haynes won the Under-19 Singles and the Open Doubles, with Jeffrey as his partner.
In the first Boys’ U-19 Singles semi-final, Haynes and Matthew Beharry were paired up for battle. Haynes made light work of his opponent 21-7, 21-15 to advance to the final. In the final, he was met by Jeffrey, who had overcome Isaac Mallampati 21-5, 23-21 in the second semi-final.
Clearly, a battle of the best, Jeffrey put up a fight in the first set, but Haynes still managed to edge past him 21-18. In the second, Haynes sealed his victory comfortably with a 21-12 set.
The female U-19 division saw similar excitement as Priyanka Shivnauth won a close encounter with Jayde Da Silva. Although it was close at times, Shivnauth eventually took the win in three sets 22-20, 21-18, 21-17.
The second semi-final was not contested after Alea Ruplal gained a walkover over Mishka Beharry.
The final was fiercely contested by the two young ladies, Shivnauth and Ruplal, and saw the match going to three exhilarating sets. Ruplal won the first 15-21, but Shivnauth made a stunning comeback to take the next two sets and the victory 21-19, 21-19.
Over in the mixed doubles category, Jonathan Mangra teamed up with Ambika Ramraj to easily defeat the pair of Darrell Carpenay and Ayanna Watson 21-13, 21-12 in the first semi-final.
The second pair to make it to the final were Avinash Odit and Christina Kumar, who brushed aside Akili Haynes and Emelia Ramdhani 21-11, 22-20.
In the final, Mangra and Ramraj made light work of Odit and Kumar in a two-set game 21-9, 21-13.
The GBA expressed its immense gratitude to West Indian Sports Complex for making this tournament a success and also thanked Ayanna Watson for providing refreshments and gifts for all the participants. In addition, thanks were extended to Troy Beharry and the Executive Committee for a job well done in organising and pulling off this annual Christmas tournament.
Under-19 Boys Singles:
1st – Akili Haynes
2nd – Tyrsese Jeffrey
3rd – Matthew Beharry
Under-19 Girls Singles:
1st – Priyanka Shivnauth
2nd – Alea Ruplal
3rd – Jayde DaSilva
Open Men Doubles:
1st – Akili Haynes/ Tyrese Jeffrey
2nd – Jonathan Mangra/ Avinash Odit
3rd – Darrell Carpenay/ Avian Rodrigues
Open Ladies’ Doubles:
1st – Ayanna Watson/ Christina Kumar
2nd – Emelia Ramdhani/Anna Perreira
3rd – Jayde DaSilva/Priyanka Shivnauth
Open Mixed Doubles:
1st – Jonathan Mangra/ Ambika Ramraj
2nd – Avinash Odit/Christina Kumar
3rd – Darrell Carpenay/Ayanna Watson
