Team Guyana’s medal hopes took a dive in three disciplines when the Pan American 2023 Games continued in Santiago, Chile yesterday.
Badminton star Priyanna Ramdhani suffered an injury which forced her to retire hurt from her Women’s Round of 32 match against Brazil’s Juliana Vieira. Worryingly, it was her knee which gave out, an injury she was carrying previously.
Over in the pool, one of Guyana’s top male swimmers in recent times, Raekwon Noel swam in Heat One of the Men’s 400m Freestyle and turned in a credible four minutes, 07.38 seconds to come second behind Costa Rica’s Alberto Vega Sancho. However, Noel was unfortunate to miss out on the last overall qualifying spot losing out to Sancho as fate would have it.
Meanwhile, boxer Desmond Amsterdam headed into action in the squared circle in the Men’s 80kg Round of 16. He failed to stamp his authority on the fight and subsequently lost to Argentina’s Abraham Buonarrigo on points with all five judges scoring the bout 30-27 in favor of the Argentine.
Martial artist Ceili Peterson then suited up for her bout in Taekwondo. Facing Costa Rica’s Laura Sancho Cartin in the Women’s Kyorugi 49kg class, Peterson went down in a spirited 1-2 performance in the round of 16.
Action continues today with another Guyanese boxer, Joel Williamson, scheduled to fight Domican Republic’s Alexy Baez in a men’s 63.5kg round of 16 slugfest.
