THE Guyana Badminton Association (GBA) served off the first-ever World Badminton Day tournament on Friday with the event expected to conclude this weekend.
The two-day competition, which was sponsored by Total Solutions, includes students of the Nursery Badminton Academy, a brainchild of the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr.

In Friday’s opener at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, scores of players at all levels competed in varying events, including the Boys Under-11 Singles, the Girls U11 Singles, the Boys U15 Singles, the Girls U15 Singles, the Boys U19 Singles, the Girls U19 Singles, the Boys U23 Singles, the Girls U23 Singles, the Open Men’s Doubles and the Open Women’s Doubles.

The Open Men’s Doubles had a large field of competitors with several first-round clashes, including a win for national players Akili Haynes and Tyrese Jeffrey, one of the favourite pairs for the title.
Both players are also in the U23 Boys Singles and would likely be the front runners. In their opening clashes, Haynes defeated Jonathan Debidin 21-14 and 21-17, while Jeffrey defeated A. Singh 21-9, 21-7.

National female champion Priyanna Ramdhani is expected to win the U23 Girls Singles. She gained a bye in her first round.
Young Mishka Beharry is also showing fight with an opening win in the U23 against J. DaSilva 21-10, 21-17. She also booked a place in the U15 Girls Singles final.

In the semi-final, she got past Malia Haley 21-5, 21-4. Naveah Eastman won the other semis with a win over Himanshi Kumar 21-8, 21-11.
In the Girls U19 Singles second round, Beharry claimed a victory against Eastman 21-14, 21-10, which gives her the edge in the U15 final.

World Badminton Day, which will be celebrated on July 5, is expected to bring people and communities together to experience fun and inclusive badminton, through a variety of active, engaging, and innovative badminton events.