While he was just barely able to open his eyes, he looked up and beheld a miniature badminton shuttlecock among the assortment of toys hanging from a musical mobile at the top of his cradle. At that moment, the future of one of Guyana’s most thrilling badminton champions was decided as his parents noticed his preoccupation with the dangling shuttle.
And Narayan Ramdhani, born June 3rd, 1998, rapidly grew into the country’s most promising badminton player before his tenth birthday.
Seeing this enthusiastic youngster play, one easily recalls the idiom, “Chip off the old block”, as he is the son of the Guyana Badminton Association (GBA) president, current national coach and former national player Gokarn Ramdhani.
But with 5 years experience and close to two dozen medals and trophies already collected, this nine-year-old may surpass the accomplishments of his father.
Although Narayan had been around the game from birth, he was introduced as a player at the age of 4 and has made an impact in eight prestigious tournaments ever since.
Narayan made his first tournament appearance in one of GBA’s national tournaments where he required all his enthusiasm and newly-learned skills to overcome all fear and race towards victory in the under-10 category, and that was just after his seventh birthday.
Such a remarkable performance in his first tournament along with the competitive spirit exhibited in his practice sessions, landed him a place in the Guyana team which competed at the Suriname Junior International Badminton tournament in April 2006.
Since then, Narayan has collected singles and doubles titles in four major badminton tournaments locally – one of which was the Guyana Classic Invitational Junior Championships held last December, when he captured six titles, three singles and three in the doubles against the Barbadian competitors.
Narayan also competed at the 2007 Caribbean Junior Badminton Championships held in Suriname where he captured four silver medals.
Stabroek Sport sat down with this extraordinary nine-year-old to see what is responsible for his ardent devotion to the sport at such a young age.
Narayan revealed that his whole live revolves around badminton and he even dreams of being a professional badminton player when he gets older. This young sportsman-of-the-year candidate is also keen in his academics as he maintains a creditable percentage every term. He trains three times a week from 4pm to 6pm, takes a one-hour break to complete his home work right at the Queen’s College badminton court, then trains with the seniors from 7pm-9pm.
“I like badminton, and what I really like is playing with my friends, having fun and in tournaments when we get to win trophies,” he said delightedly.
Narayan’s face even brightens with every mention of the word ‘badminton’ although his parents are keen on having him seek a career in academia. However, Narayan will definitely succeed on the professional badminton arena if he continues with the enthusiasm and passion that he now has for the sport.
