GUYANA’S top badminton players Narayan Ramdhani and Priyanna Ramdhani joined in a moment of silence for their father Gokarn Ramdhani before they highlighted his years of teaching on the badminton court – the end result was a flawless performance on day one of the Trophy Stall Badminton Christmas tournament.

The three-day event, which served off at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Monday evening, saw players armed with their black sweatbands to mourn the loss of the long-standing head of badminton.

Female champion Priyanna, who is one of the better players in Guyana, also competed in the Men’s Doubles, which saw her reach the semi-finals. Her older brother Narayan also made it to the semi-finals.

By the end of play, the Men’s Doubles had completed the quarter-finals with Narayan and Jonathan Mangra defeating Anthony Stephens and Jaurel Hendricks 21-11, 21-7 and Marlon Chung and Priyanna Ramdhani beating Kevin Hamilton and Kristoff Shepperd 21-4, 21-7.

In the other two quarter-final clashes, Easa Sanichara and Matthew Beharry got the better of Chet Bowling and Zachary Persaud 21-10, 21-7, while Akili Haynes and Tyrese Jeffrey defeated Avinash Odit and Grandison Robinson 21-13, 21-14.

Three games have been completed in the Mixed Doubles quarterfinals. Jonathan Mangra and Shivannie Persaud defeated Ayanna Watson and Matthew Beharry 21-19, 21-14, Marlon Chung and Ambika Ramraj defeated Tyrese Jeffrey and Christina Kumar 21-19, 21-23, 21-18, while Narayan and Mishka Beharry defeated Anthony Stephens and Anna Perreira 21-15, 21-15.

Priyanna Ramdhani and her partner Akili Haynes will take the court this evening for their clash.

The top female player would also begin her quest in the Women’s Doubles today in quarterfinal action with her partner Shivannie Persaud.

In the lone quarter-final clash on Monday, Mishka Beharry and Priyanka Shivnauth beat Deandre Assing and Elesa Sangster 21-12, 21-9.

Meanwhile, in the first Mixed Doubles consolation semi-final Tyrese Jeffrey and Christina Kumar defeated Anthony Stephens and Anna Perreira 19-17, Retired.

In the Men’s Doubles Consolation semis, Mahender Sharma and Jason Stephney defeated Andrew Browne and Andrew Browne (same names, but no relations) 21-11, 21-12, while Matthew Klautky and Matthew Singh defeated Manav Sharma and Jonathan Robinson 25-23, 21-17.

The consolation competitions are for duos who were knocked out in the first round. All players were paired together by a fun mix draw.
The tournament continues today from 1700hrs.