TALENTED 14-year-old Mishka Beharry dominated the Guyana Badminton Association’s National Junior Badminton Tournament, which concluded on Saturday evening at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

The teen controlled the female division with wins in the Girls U15 Singles, the Girls U17 Singles, the Girls U19 Singles and the Girls U19 Doubles.

In the U15 Singles, she won ahead of Malia Haley, with Naveah Eastman and Gabriel Felix finishing a joint third.

The Girls U15 Doubles was won by Naveah Eastman and Malia Haley, with G. Bookram and H. Kumar in second, and T. Netram and M. Hinckson in third.

In the U17 Singles, she defeated Alyssa Dick in the championship clash, while in the U19 battle, she got the better of Alima Eastman, with Naveah Eastman and Haley finishing a joint third.

In the U19 Doubles, Mishka teamed up with Dick, and the duo got the better of Alima Eastman and Genevieve Bookram, with Naveah and Haley finishing third.

Young player Gianna Ramnarine also claimed wins, having won the Girls Under-11 Singles ahead of R. Alexander, and the Girls U13 ahead of Himanshi Kumar, with Tanuja Netram and Maleah Hinckson finishing a joint third.

The U13 Girls Doubles was won by Kumar and Gabrielle Felix, with Hinckson and Netram finishing third.

MALE BATTLE
None of the boys dominated like Mishka, but three finished with two titles each.

Pre-teen Ruel Rambiriche finished with victories in the Boys U13 Singles and the Boys U13 Doubles.

In the singles, he defeated John Thomas in the final, with Vivaan Shivnauth and Sergio Alexander finishing a joint third.
In the doubles, he and Thomas got past the pair of Shivnauth and Alexander. Thomas had won the U11 Singles ahead of Francis Thomas, with Manvir Sharma and Joel Rambiriche finishing a joint third.

Viraj Singh also won two events, but in the oldest age group. He teamed up with Xavio Alexander to win the U19 Doubles ahead of Jonathan Debidin and Manay Sharma; Jedidiah Uwagboe and Juan Ferreira, along with Raah Russell and Frank Waddell finished third.

In the U19 singles, Singh defeated Debidin with Jonathan Robinson and Raah Russell in joint third place.

Xavio Alexander won the U15 Singles, with Aiden Bhagwandin finishing second, and Nathan Morrison and Avinash Ramnarine joint third.

In the U15 Doubles, it was the team of Gabriel Felix and Nikolas Pollard which finished ahead of Avinash Ramnarine and Rambiriche, with Jaquan Nedd and Nathan Jarvis finishing joint third.

In the U17 battle, Debidin, who also had a dominant tournament, surged to victory in the singles, with Xavio Alexander in second and Matthew Spooner and Uwagboe in joint third.

Spooner had taken the U17 Boys Doubles title with Haresh Persaud ahead of Debidin and Aiden Bhagwandin.

Pollard/Felix and Uwagboe/Juan Ferreira finished joint third.

According to information from the GBA, the National Sports Commission-sponsored tournament will be used to select the squad for the upcoming Inter-Guiana Games, which is scheduled for late next month.

The young players and other members of the badminton fraternity also met with the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson, and Director of Sport Steve Ninvalle, and were informed that the government plans to build a home for badminton at the National Racquet Centre on Woolford Avenue.

“The GBA is extremely and beyond grateful for this very timely and long-awaited initiative, thanks the Government of Guyana. This facility will be shared with table tennis,” the Association said.