Priyanna comes from a badminton family
Priyanna Ramdhani during a practice session at the National Gymnasium. (Photos by Delano Williams)
Priyanna Ramdhani during a practice session at the National Gymnasium. (Photos by Delano Williams)

 

THIS week’s Sports Personality-of-the-Week is someone with a well-known reputation in the sports arena in Guyana, and is no other than the distinguished 14-year-old badminton player, Priyanna Ramdhani, who attends Marian Academy.Priyanna is quite an accomplished player and is by far the best female player that Guyana has produced over the years.
Priyanna comes from a family of badminton players. One cannot think of badminton in Guyana without thinking of the name Ramdhani, with nary a badminton-related activity not involving one family member. Priyanna is the daughter of Gokarn Ramdhani, badminton coach, and president of the Guyana Badminton Association.
Her brother, Narayan, is himself an authority in the sport locally, and has continually dominated over the years, which landed him a scholarship for which he departed Guyana to pursue earlier this year.

Priyanna Ramdhani
Priyanna Ramdhani

Even Priyanna’s mom is a player in the sport, and with her entire family in badminton it was only natural that Priyanna would follow in their footsteps. So it was at the tender age of five years that she took up the mantle – and racquet – to fulfil her calling.
What Priyanna cherishes most about her experience as a sports player are the opportunities provided to meet new friends and the ability to grow in the sport.
“Some of the most advantageous things that I have taken away from being a part of the sport are meeting new friends and growing and learning about the sport of badminton,” said the Marian Academy Fourth Form student.
Since she started in the sport, Priyanna has racked up quite a list of accolades, including capturing the national ‘Junior Sportswoman-of-the-Year’ title for the year 2011, and ending as runner-up for the 2012 title.
This followed Priyanna’s first big win on the regional scene, ending as a bronze medallist at the 2010 Pan American Championships in Jamaica and then returning to the competition in 2011 to capture another bronze when the event was held in the Dominican Republic.
Over the years Priyanna has advanced in her skills, and not a year passes without her medalling at one regional event or another. For this year alone she captured one of the ‘Age Group Champion’ titles at the Suriname Easter International tournament, and most recently returned from the Caribbean Championships in Aruba with quite a lot.
With several competitions being held consecutively at the Championships, Priyanna participated and medalled in almost all of them. In the Caribbean International Championships she won bronze, she had a silver in the Caribbean Team Championships, and two gold medals in the Caribbean Regional Championships. Whew! Quite a take!
But it’s not just badminton that this ambitious young lady has excelled at; she has dabbled in table tennis at the national level, as well as representing her school in basketball and even chess. And when she doesn’t win, Priyanna doesn’t let it get to her. One of her favourite quotes is ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff’.
Priyanna is now currently working on her preparations for the upcoming Inter-Guiana Games, where she is expected to represent Guyana against players from Suriname.
(tgarnett_sports@yahoo.com)

 

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