Badminton Association aiming to progress sport post-pandemic

Disappointed that the COVID-19 pandemic has halted its programme of activities for 2020, the Guyana Badminton Association (GBA) is putting systems in place to spread and progress the sport post-pandemic.

Since the restrictions on sport activities were implemented earlier this year, badminton players have been limited to personal fitness training at home and learning new techniques and enhancing their knowledge of the game via videos.

According to the GBA, the pandemic comes at a time when local badminton players were rising to “a higher competitive level.”

“In the last 10 years we medalled at many International Championships- Caribbean Regional and International Championships, South American Games, Pan Am Championships, Peru International and IGG Games. Our players also qualified for the Pan Am Games, Commonwealth Games, South American Games and CAC Games. We were doing so well getting there and it’s like our progress was just cut out from under us due to the pandemic,” the GBA said.

“We however, hope to stay at the competitive level with more consistent badminton awareness until we can get all our programmes started back again.”

Whenever approval is given by the relevant authorities for training sessions and competitive sport to resume, the GBA is aiming to introduce its Shuttle Time Basic Badminton in schools. The programme is geared to furnish Physical Education teachers and students with a working knowledge of the game.

“The other programme, planned and implemented by World Badminton, is the New Outdoor game which we plan to launch to the rural areas and most regions as it can be easily demonstrated and also easily set up outdoors. There is a special Shuttlecock designed that can withstand the wind. For these projects the GBA will supply all the racquets and shuttlecocks with the help of Pan Am Badminton and also World Badminton,” the GBA added.

The GBA executives are also hoping to meet with Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr. to outline “activities and difficulties, and produce our detailed plan of a badminton building that we can all our home. With our own home one can imagine the heights we can go, as we are already doing with less structure.”

The GBA also said that it was disappointed no national awards ceremony was held this year, as it was confident top female player Priyanna Ramdhani would have copped the Junior Sportswoman-of-the-Year accolade.

Nevertheless, the GBA is thankful for those top local players, who have contributed significantly to Guyana’s badminton image on the international stage, namely Akili Haynes, Jonathan Mangra, Ambika Ramraj, Tyreese Jeffrey, Jayde DaSilva, Darrell Carpenay, Ronald Chang Yuen, Greer Jackson, Priyanka Shivnauth, Tyrese Richardson, Wonita Yang, Nicholas Ali, Kara, Abrams, Cecil Abrams, Matthew Beharry, Miska Beharry, Vikash Mootoo, Priyanna Ramdhani and Narayan Ramdhani.