Speculation abound one day before announcement of winners
WITH one day to go before the winners of the respective categories of the National Sports Awards are announced, speculation abounds as to which individual/s, team or association were the top performers in 2009.
The panel of judges comprising representatives of the various media houses (print and non-print) along with specially selected individuals associated with the various sports disciplines in one way or the other will meet tomorrow and deliberate who are the individuals, team or association most deserving of the various National Sports Commission awards that are handed out annually.
It will not be an easy task to come up with the winners of some of the categories, as it is almost certain that the members of the panel will be called upon to vote a second or even third time before a winner can be determined.
In discussions with other media colleagues as well as with officials from some of the sports associations, it was clear that certain individuals, a particular team and association are very much deserving of the respective awards for the categories that they were nominated for.
However, during the very discussions, there were different views regarding the other awards.
One award in particular that aroused heated debate was that of the Junior Sportsman-of-the-Year 2009.
Based on nominations received for this award, Narayan Ramdhani (badminton) and Jason Ray Khalil (squash) head the list of nominees with three nominations each, while Geron Williams (cycling) received two. The other nominees (five in all) all received one each.
Ramdhani was nominated by the Guyana Badminton Association (GBA), Guyana Amateur Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (GABFF) and the Guyana Amateur Weightlifting Association (GAWA), while Khalil was nominated by the Guyana Squash Association (GSA), the Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) and the Guyana Volleyball Association (GVA).
Williams, on the other hand, was nominated by the Guyana Cycle Federation GCF), and the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA).
While neither the GABFF nor the GAWA submitted reasons for supporting Ramdhani, the GBA gave an account of their nominee’s performances during last year.
According to the GBA, the 11-year-old dominated the U-11 and U-13 age groups in local competitions, was knocked out in the first round of the U-13 boys’ doubles and mixed doubles of the Pan American championships in Puerto Rico. He reached to second round of the boys’ U-13 individual championship.
Ramdhani was however a member of the winning Guyana team that beat Aruba 4-1 at the championship. The supporting document however did not say if Ramdhani was the team member that lost his match.
According to supporting submissions for Khalil, the GSA stated that Khalil excelled last year not only in squash, but also in basketball, badminton and track.
Apart from winning the U-15 and U-17 titles at last year’s national junior championships, Khalil placed second in the U-19 age group and went on the win the U-17 Plate at the Caribbean Championships in Barbados.
He was also second runner-up in the North American Junior Squash Tournament staged in Canada.
The GASA submission dealt with Khalil’s exploits in track and field, while the GVF made no reference to his athletic performance last year.
Williams for his part won the GCF’s national junior road race. He placed sixth overall in the NSC’s annual three-stage road race (over 172 miles) while being a junior and competing with senior cyclists who are far more seasoned than he is and also far more older.
Approximately six months after the three-stage race, Williams entered the Ride for Life Five-Stage Road Race (226 miles) and upstaged a large field that included two of Guyana’s most experienced riders in recent times, Dwayne `Road Hog’ Gibbs who won the NSC’s three-stage event on five occasions and Godfrey Pollydore who won the same annual event on four occasions. For winning the overall title, Williams was also adjudged the top junior rider.
Also in that field were riders from other Caribbean countries as well as other Guyanese who are training and competing overseas.
Williams also captained a Guyana team to a silver medal at the Inter-Guiana Games.
As a junior he won five junior road races, placed second in four and third in two others.
While competing among the seniors, he won one race, placed second twice and third once.