Junior badminton team step onto international stage
A team of young Guyanese badminton players have stepped onto the international stage for the Li Ning BWF World Juniors Mixed Team & Individual Badminton Championships, which are being hosted in Markham, Canada.
The Guyanese badminton team
The competition, which will span the next two weeks, will give the players more exposure to international competition as teams from all across the world are listed to compete.
The Guyanese team consist of young sensation Priyanna Ramdhani who will play the role of team captain. Jayde DaSilva, Tyrese Jeffrey and Akili Haynes (Vice Captain) will make up the remainder of the team while Emelia Ramdhani will serve as the team manager.
Being the only team from a Caribbean country at the high-level competition, it is expected that the Guyanese players will be under immense pressure. Nevertheless, the ‘high stakes’ competition will equip the players with the necessary experience so as to boost their world ranking. This in turn will benefit the players in 2019, heightening their eligibility for the Pan Am Games, which is an Olympic qualifier event.
Priyanna Ramdhani and Jayde DaSilva in battle against the USA
The 41 countries which are currently participating in the tournament, were placed in Groups A1, A2, B, C, D, E, F, G and H.
The four-member Guyanese team have been placed in Group G where they will compete against Denmark, Singapore, the USA and the Dominican Republic.
Since the competition began on Monday, November 5, the Guyanese team, despite being on the losing side of a few encounters, have shown that they have what it takes to compete with the best in the world.
In their first match, Guyana were paired with Singapore and lost the mixed doubles 21-11, 21-4; the men’s singles 21-1, 21-3; the women’s singles 21-4, 21-18; the men’s doubles 21-2, 21-1 and the women’s doubles 21-5, 21-7.
In their encounter with Denmark, the foreigners got the better of Guyana in the mixed doubles 21-0, 21-4; the men’s singles 21-2, 21-5; women’s singles 21-7, 21-6; the men’s doubles 21-6, 21-4 and the women’s doubles 21-5, 21-7.
The result was the same when they met the USA, with losses in the mixed doubles 21-4, 21-1; the men’s singles 21-4, 21-4; the women’s singles 21-3, 21-9; the men’s doubles 21-7, 21-8 and the women’s doubles 21-1, 21-2.
Guyana registered a 5-0 win when they were awarded a walkover against the Dominican Republic.
The team extended their gratitude to SOL, Guyana Olympic Association (GOA); GTT; Courts; Temple Scribe Solutions and Eureka Medical Laboratory.
