When the battle for supremacy in the Guyana Olympic Association Olympic Day open doubles badminton challenge ended it was the duo of Priyanna Ramdhani and Greer Jackson taking the women’s title with Narayan Ramdhani and Jonathon Mangra prevailing in the men’s division over the weekend at the National Gymnasium.
In commemoration of Saturday’s World Olympic Day, Ramdhani, after her graduation from Marian Academy hurried over to partner with Jackson and flatten the competition.
The duo defeated Christina Kumar/Shivannie Persaud 21-9, 21-8, Jayde Da Silva/Stephanie Sagar 21-14, 21-5 and Ayanna Wickham-Watson/Emily Ramdhani 21-8, 21-7 to lift the title.
Ramdhani said it was a more challenging tournament and it was a joy to play with people mostly her age which signaled good things for the sport while Jackson acknowledged the pleasure of playing with the younger Ramdhani and coming out on the winning end.
Persaud/Kumar finished second while Wickham-Watson/Ramdhani ended in third.
Meanwhile, in the Open men’s doubles competition, Canada-based Narayan Ramdhani partnered with Mangra to defeat Marlon Chung/ Darrell Carpenay 21-7, 21-18 in the final.
Mangra said afterwards that the first set was a breeze but the change of sides posed a problem with the light and breeze playing a part in the match but it was good preparation to come out on top. Narayan Ramdhani added he had no problems in letting Mangra lead since he was recovering from injury but that it was good to team up with someone whom he had partnered with from a very young age.
Narayan Ramdhani/Mangra advanced after beating Nicholas Waldron/Gokaran Ramdhani 21-10, 21-18 in the first round and earned themselves a walk over against Javid Rahaman/Easa Sanichara in the semifinals with Rahaman twisting his ankle with the score 1-0.
