Latest update February 4th, 2025 9:06 AM
Sport benefiting from more publicity – Ramdhani
– participation in international tournaments will continue
By Rawle Welch
President of the Guyana Badminton Association (GBA) Gokarn Ramdhani in an interview with Kaieteur Sport yesterday said that the sport made admirable progress in 2008. He cited their improved attendance at international tournaments and the outstanding performances during those competitions as the measuring stick used to arrive at that conclusion.
Gokarn Ramdhani
“In 2008 we were able to attend more International Tournaments and also our junior players did extremely well competing against other players in the Caribbean with much success and all this shows is that the level of development among the juniors is improving rapidly,” Ramdhani pointed out.
According to Ramdhani another noticeable positive was the support they received from parents who seemed to be exhibiting more and more interest in their children’s development in the sport.
Questioned on what were some of the high points for last year, he mentioned that the performances of the juniors against their regional counterparts had to be rated as among the most outstanding achievements for the GBA.
“We managed to grab the No. 1 and No.2 spots in the boys Under 11 and 13 categories in the Caribbean, while our performance at the Suriname International Championships must also be considered among the highlights. During that competition, we carted off a total of nineteen (19) medals competing against five countries.”
Asked to name some of the players who performed beyond expectations, the GBA President chose Delmar Abrams, Narayan Ramdhani, Priyanna Ramdhani, Avian Rodrigues, Nicholas Ali and Andrew Peroune as among the frontrunners.
Responding to whether the sport was enjoying the kind of publicity and momentum it once had in the 70s’ and 80s’, Ramdhani said that the sport has definitely been benefiting from more exposure and with the continued involvement of parents and well wishers, he see no reason why the positive thrust cannot persist.
“We recently received word from the Pan Am Federation acknowledging our good work and such commendation have provided the source of encouragement that will allow us to maintain our focus and guarantee the sport remain on the path of progress.
2009 Plans –
The entity’s plans this year will be to continue its focus on the development of the juniors, especially in light of their success and our vision for the sport as well. We will try once again to approach the schools that have Badminton Courts with the aim of getting the game re-introduced there.
That was done two years ago, but due to the lack of a proper structure for sports in schools there was no continuity so the game went back into recession. We, also hope to attend more international tournaments this year and run off more local ones as well.
Among our other plans is to host a few international competitions which will give those players who fail to make the national team an opportunity to play against top quality opposition from other countries.
Sponsorship
–
Sponsorship was not too bad in 2008 since we were able to get Companies and interested persons to assist us. But as we attempt to move forward this year, we will have to do more because of our stated intention to travel a lot this year, especially to junior events. They’ve proven repeatedly that they can handle the pressures of competing at international tournaments.
Coaches and officials Development –
This is an important element in the development of the sport that needs to be enhanced and we will try to solicit assistance first from the Chinese Ambassador, who is resident here, before making an appeal to the Pan Am Federation under whose purview we fall.
Another option is to meet with Minister of Sport Dr. Frank Anthony to see if the same kind of arrangement that was done with the Guyana Table Tennis Federation can be facilitated.
We are confident that at least one of those three avenues will materialise and provide some of our senior players with high level coaching that can impart to the younger players.
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