– GBA President says exposure is important
National Junior Badminton players Xavio Alexander and Mishka Beharry, who are currently in Aguascalientes, Mexico, on their maiden international tour, exited the Pan Am Junior Badminton Championships in the round of 32 singles and mixed doubles categories.
However, Guyana Badminton Association (GBA) President, Emily Ramdhani, told Stabroek Sports that the exposure at that level of competition was important despite the losses, with the pair now turning their attention to the Pan Am Junior Camp, which will get underway from Friday and end on July 25.
Competing in the Boys U-17 category, Alexander lost out 21-14, 21-7, to Peru’s Gabriel Pallette Quiroga, while Beharry went down in the Girls U-17 to Quiroga’s countrywoman, Lucia De La Pedria, in sets of 21-8 and 21-4.
Over in the U-17 Mixed Doubles, the Guyanese pair suffered a 21-9 and 21-6 defeat at the hands of Mexicans Santiago Lopez Martinez and Jimena Lopez Martinez.
With the tournament over for the local duo, Ramdhani is upbeat about the upcoming camp where Alexander and Beharry are sure to come away with invaluable experience and knowledge, which will help to further elevate their respective games.
“We were offered spots at the camp, and we (GBA) had to nominate two players; once they got into the camp, one of the criteria was participation in the tournament. So we used that as the exposure and experience for them to gain and to see what knowledge they could get from this, which is definitely good for them”, Ramdhani explained.
On the other hand, multi-sport athlete and new badminton coach Nkosi Beaton is also taking part in a coaching camp, something Ramdhani is excited about.
“The coach, Nkosi Beaton, is a cricketer at the Demerara Cricket Club, but he came over to play badminton for the hand-eye coordination, and he ended up liking the game. He’s good at what he’s doing, and he was also nominated for the camp as a coach, so we’re very happy that the three of them are getting this type of exposure”, she noted.
