Ramdhani moves into round of 16

Priyanna and Narayan Ramdhani
Priyanna and Narayan Ramdhani

Narayan Ramdhani moved into the third round of the XXIV Pan Am individual championships currently ongoing in Guatemala.

Playing in the men’s singles, Ramdhani drew a bye into the round of 32 where he then defeated Barbados’ Shai Martin 21-18, 21-12 to reach the round of 16.

His sister, Priyanna, lost in the ladies singles to Dominican Republic’s top seed, Nairoby Abigail by a 21-8, 21-12 margin.

When the siblings teamed up for the mixed doubles, they went down to Guatemala duo, Antonio Emanuel Ortiz and Alejandra Jose Paiz Quan 21-13, 21-13.

According to a release from the Guyana Badminton Association, “This is the first senior Pan Am tournament for both players after playing quite a number of years in the junior category. They had limited tournaments for over a year and a half but were able to perform at their best despite the pandemic era where they were exposed to a lot of restrictions.

“This tournament attracted quite a number of players who are trying to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

“We are now awaiting the IOC and the Pan American Federation to inform us if Narayan will qualify for the Olympics and Priyanna for the South American Youth Games after all points in the qualification periods are calculated,” the release stated.

“The GBA is extremely happy the players got the chance to participate in a tournament after a long layoff and this was made possible by: Minister of Sports Charles Ramson Jr., President of the GOA, Kalam Juman-Yassin, Demerara Bank, Dr. Yesu Persaud, Mohamed’s Enterprise, and Ayanna Watson for making it possible for them to attend this championships,” the release concluded.