FOLLOWING their dominance on the local circuit and to an extent the Caribbean, the Ramdhani siblings, Narayan and Priyanna, ended the year in glorious fashion, by claiming individual accolades at the Guyana Badminton Association/Woodpecker Products Annual Christmas Singles Tournament, which concluded last Friday at the Queen’s College badminton courts. Playing in the Girls’ Under-19 category following her win in the Under-15 segment, Priyanna, a Caribbean gold medallist in this sport, disposed of her longtime nemesis Ambika Ramraj, 21-16, 21-9 to add that category win to her Under-15 win which occurred earlier in the tournament, against Ramraj.

On the men’s side, her brother Narayan Ramdhani defeated Nicholas Ali in a thrilling three-setter, with Ali winning the first set 22-20, before Narayan who is a Caribbean and South American bronze medallist, bounced back to take the last two sets 18-21, 15-21, to add the Open Men’s Singles title to his Junior title won earlier, thus emulating his sister and at the same time underlining their dominance in the sport.
In the Open Men’s Singles quarterfinals, Narayan Ramdhani beat Armand Ramdhani: 21-7, 21-13, Noel Shewjattan defeated Jonathan Mangra: 21-15, 21-15, Christopher Persaud got the better of Darrell Carpenay: 21-9, 19-21, 21-18 and Ali trounced Josh Oudit: 21-4, 21-1.
In the semifinals, Narayan Ramdhani defeated Shewjattan, 21-12, 21-13 while Ali thrashed Persaud: 21-13, 21-4 before going on to lose to Narayan Ramdhani in the final.
The presentation was done to the winners in the different events immediately after the finals, with Lance and Marlyn Sanford, two senior badminton players, who are currently visiting Guyana from London, assisting in presenting the prizes.
The overall results are: Under-15 Boys’ Singles – Jonathan Mangra, Hemraj Beharry and Armand Ramdhani and Ransell Ramsaroop; Under-15 Girls’ Singles – Priyanna Ramdhani, Ambika Ramraj and Abosaide Cadogan and Siya Persaud.
Under-19 Boys’ Singles: Narayan Ramdhani, Noel Shewjattan, Jonathan Mangra and Sachin Ramdhani and Under-19 Girls Singles: Priyanna Ramdhani, Ambika Ramraj and Althea McDavid and Open Men’s Singles: Narayan Ramdhani, Nicholas Ali, Christopher Persaud and Noel Shewjattan.