The Guyana Badminton Association (GBA) has expressed its disappointment that there will be no 2020 National Sports Commission (NSC) award this year, noting that the 2019 junior Sportswoman-of-the-Year, Priyanna Ramdhani was primed to walk away with the award once again.
No official explanation was given for the award’s hiatus this year, however, the five-month delay in declaring a winner of the March 2 general and regional elections, coupled with the ongoing pandemic, are speculated to be the reasons behind its absence.
Additionally, the recently installed government is yet to identify a Director of Sport nor appoint members of the National Sports Commission which may further impact the possibility of the awards being organised this year.
Nevertheless, the Guyana Badminton Association is adamant that the local and regional badminton queen would have easily served her way to another NSC award.
“We are also very disappointed there was no NSC Awards this year where Priyanna Ramdhani would have easily got the Junior Sportswoman-of-the-Year Award again,” the association said via a release.
In this regard, the association said it is keen to meet with the new Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr., to discuss plans, particularly the possibility of getting a home for the sport.
“We hope to meet with the Minister of Sports soon to outline our badminton activities, difficulties and produce our detailed plan of a badminton building that we can call our home. With our own home, one can imagine the heights we can go as we are already doing with less structure,” the release noted.
Meanwhile, the association also noted that its international agenda has been severely affected due to the ongoing global pandemic but assured that the country’s two top players, Priyanna Ramdhani and Narayan Ramdhani, are keeping fit and are back on the court in Canada while anticipating a return to the sport in 2021.
