Priyanna Ramdhani makes it to men’s final

Badminton got off to a wonderful start in the 2017 season with the Guyana Badminton Association (GBA) organized GUMDAC annual open doubles tournament on Wednesday at the National Gymnasium.

For the first time in the history of the sport, National and Caribbean champion, Priyanna Ramdhani is playing in the men doubles event and reached the finals with Avinash Odit.

According to a release from President GBA, Gokarn Ramdhani the move to have the top female player compete in the male division is due to the lack of competition in the ladies division.

With a number of matches being played, day one saw Marlon Chung and Ronald Yuen defeating Tyrese Jeffrey and Akili Haynes (21-7, 21-10), Priyanna Ramdhani and Avinash Odit defeating veterans George Melville and Leslie Liu (21-11, 21-15) as well as Gokarn Ramdhani and Javid Rahaman defeating Stephan Murdilall and Haymant Ramdhani (21-9, 21-13) in the open men doubles quarter-finals with Nicholas Ali and Jonathan Mangra defeating Gokarn Ramdhani and Javid Rahaman (21-18, 21-18) and Priyanna Ramdhani and Avinash Odit defeating Marlon Chung and Ronald Yuen (21-15, 21-16) in the open men doubles semi-finals.

In the open mix doubles quarter-finals, Avinash Odit and Angelica Holder defeated Marlon Chung and Ayanna Watson (21-17, 21-15) while Ronald Yuen and Pricilla Moore defeated Gokarn Ramdhani and Emelia Ramdhani (21-13, 21-12). In the open mix doubles semi-finals, Jonathan Mangra and Priyanna Ramdhani defeated Avinash Odit and Angelica Holder, 21-19, 21-12 and Nicholas Ali and Greer Jackson defeated Ronald Yuen and Pricilla Moore 21-17, 21-13.

Meanwhile, in the open ladies doubles round robin one, Priyanna Ramdhani and Greer Jackson defeated Emelia Ramdhani and Ayanna Watson 21-5, 21-9.

The tournament continues this evening from 18:00h with play-offs in the finals and third place matches along with the presentation. This tournament, which is playing for the fifth year is made possible through Darrell Carpenay, Managing Director of GUMDAC and also an executive on the GBA.