Junior Pan American Games-bound badminton Akili Haynes has already commenced training under top seed, Narayan Ramdhani.
Haynes who will represent Guyana in November at the under-23 tournament in Cali, Colombia along with Priyanna Ramdhani, is currently training at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Haynes revealed, “Our coach, Mr. Gokarran [Ramdhani] is going to be implementing a plan for us as early as possible just to get us prepared but right now I am training with Priyanna and Narayan and its going good so far.”
Haynes added, “It’s a great opportunity, I am very thankful to have this opportunity, I’ve really been looking forward to playing some international badminton this year.”
The 19-year-old was appreciative of the exploits of the Ramdhani siblings and pledged to put in the work to make Guyana proud.
“I am surely going to work hard and not waste the opportunity and do my best come November…” Haynes said.
He pointed out that having played in the CAREBACO tournament, has raised his overall athleticism, strength and skills on the court.
But due to the pandemic, he was not able to play much. Nevertheless, he was able to go to the gym.
Meanwhile, Priyanna Ramdhani admitted that she was fortunate to have gained a lot of points in a number of tournaments prior to the pandemic which was boosted by her performance in Guatemala.
“With COVID and being locked down it was a bit tough to keep up with world ranking points but luckily the tournaments I attended before the pandemic I was able to achieve a lot of points and in my recent tournament in Guatemala for the Pan Am games I was able to achieve more points which made me able to qualify for Cali which I am excited about,” she said.
The youngest Ramdhani sibling says that she was anxious to join forces with Akili and represent Guyana proudly.
“It’s nice that I am able to show my skills on a big stage and I am able to be the face of badminton for Guyana.
“Akili and I, we look forward to going to the tournament and doing our best. We’ve been training from now and will continue to train until November for the tournament,” she added.
The top female player reckoned that she will be pushing for a top three finish in her division and will be training in Guyana before heading back to Canada where she is on a scholarship.
