Night one of the Guyana Badminton Association (GBA)-organized Gokarn Ramdhani Memorial Tournament saw heated action in the Under 23 Men and Women Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles.
Named in honour of the late GBA President Gokarn Ramdhani, the night began with a video tribute to Ramdhani, which was followed by current Vice-President Ayanna Watson delivering a brief address to the participants and spectators. During her speech, Watson highlighted the late Ramdhani’s effervescent and fun-loving personality, especially noting his passion and love for the sport of badminton.
When the tournament got underway, the U-23 Men’s Singles category saw wins for national player Akili Haynes who thrashed Vishal Gopaul 21-6 and 21-4 to kickstart his campaign. Also notching up wins were Haresh Persaud who got the better of Nikolas Pollard, Lennox Morrison who defeated Jedidiah Uwagboe and Jonathan Robinson who saw off Ruel Rambirichie.
Meanwhile, Malia Haley, Gianna Ramnarine and Asiyah Eastman recorded wins on the distaff side in the same age category.
Haley beat Jefina James 21-13 and 21-16 while Ramnarine had a come from behind victory over Genevieve Bookram after losing the first set 17-21. Ramnarine would go on to win the next two 21-7 and 21-11. Eastman on the other hand eased to a 21-14 and 21-9 win over Tyra Gomes.
The late Ramdhani is best remembered for his dedicated work to get Guyana’s badminton recognized on the regional and international levels. During his tenure, Guyana was ranked in the top 50 for Juniors, 49th in the world for Team. He played a key role as coach and administrator in getting Guyana qualified for the Commonwealth Games, Panam Games and the CAC Games among others. Ramdhani coached many national players, some of whom are Marlon Chung, Mark Chang, Ryan Chang, Nicholas Ali, Jonathan Mangra, Akili Haynes, Tyrese Jeffrey, Ambika Ramraj, Matthew Beharry, Mishka Beharry and also his own children Narayan and Priyanna Ramdhani.
During the night, the GBA Executives learnt of the tragedy involving the five soldiers from the GDF and a moment of silence was held in their honour.
The tournament continued last evening and will conclude tonight. 
