From a pool of close to 40 competitors, Easa Sanichara and Christina Kumar were the two standout performers at the E-Networks sponsored B-Division Badminton tournament at the National Gymnasium Friday.
The tournament which came under the auspices of the Guyana Badminton Association (GBA) was both highly competitive and great a preview for talent exposure.
The competitiveness was without a doubt present in the Men’s Singles final between Sanichara and Hemraj Beharry. The former cruised 21-16 in the first set, however, the second was a complete opposite.
Beharry found his straps and unleash powerful forearm shots and added some finesse to steal points. They traded shots in intense rallies, waiting for each other to make a mistake. The match point for Sanichara went to deuce where he won 22-10.
In the semi-final, Sanichara defeated Isaac Mallampati 21-14, 21-12 while Beharry overcame Jamal Shamsudeen: 21-11, 21-16.
On the distaff side, Kumar’s bout in the final did not mirror the intensity of her semi-final clash with Emelia Ramdhani which she battled to 21-19, 9-21, 14-21. In the final against Anna Perreira, she sealed the title via a 21-8, 21-2 triumph.
Perreira’s semi-final also produced a gruelling match but was still good enough to stop Ayanna Watson: 21-12, 19-21, 21-15.
The consolation winners were Beharry who defeated Shimron Lewis 21-16, 21-17 and Kaylie Anthon ahead of Khaya Boswick 21-11, 21-17.
After the tournament, both Sanichara and Kumar conveyed to News Room Sport, their delight in being champions of the one-day tournament and now want to address areas of weakness in an effort to transfer such form to the national circuit.
GBA President Gokarn Ramdhani firstly expressed his immense gratitude for the support of E-Networks and highlighted the tournament achieved its success of giving players who usually do not get the full scope of opportunities a chance to showcase their skills given all A-Players and National Players were barred from playing.
