… Priyanna makes singles debut; pair to compete in mixed doubles

By Rawle Toney in Birmingham, England
BADMINTON siblings, Narayan and Priyanna Ramdhani, will begin their quest for glory at the Commonwealth Games today.
After their mixed-doubles competition, Priyanna will have a go at her first Commonwealth Games in the women’s Round-of-64. Narayan received a ‘bye’ and moved into the round-of-32 tomorrow.

However, this time around, a familiar voice will not be coming from their corner. The siblings lost their father, Gokarn Ramdhani, last October, when the renowned badminton coach and executive suffered a heart attack in Canada, where he had taken up the head coach role at Olds College.

They’ve played every major tournament with their father on the sidelines, until now.
“It’s definitely different with him not being here, but I just have to have a strong mind-set; at least a positive one. I have to try my best to win at least a few matches and hopefully I’ll be good. I’m looking forward to playing my singles and mixed-doubles and hopefully we should be able to win,” Priyanna said.

Her brother Narayan, said the family misses the senior Ramdhani, but added, “We have our mom (Emily) here. She’s good. She has been helping all the time throughout our lives. So yes, it will be different with a different voice backing us now. He taught us (well); we know what we have to do on the court. He just wants us to play hard and try to win as much as we can.”

While Narayan competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, his sister, Priyanna, is making her debut.
At the games in Australia, Narayan was knocked out in the Round-of-32 of the men’s singles, losing to Canada’s Jason Ho-Shue.

The two are the highest-ranked players in Guyana and in the English-speaking Caribbean and stated that they’re embracing the expectations of doing well at the games in Birmingham.

According to Narayan, “(For) My entire life everyone expected me to do well (in badminton), so I just try my hardest and play my best.”
Priyanna’s mindset heading into her first outing at the Commonwealth Games is one that’s similar to her brother’s, as she pointed out “there are a lot of high-ranking athletes here, but I’ll just try my best, starting from the round-of-64 and it should be good.”