National players continue to advance in the doubles categories in the T&T Open International Badminton tournament late Friday to progress to the semifinals of the men’s, women’s and mixed doubles at the National Racquet Centre in Tacarigua.
In the mixed doubles, Sameer Ali and Janiah Boodoosingh were made to work hard for their win over the Barbados pair of David Forde and Monyata Riviera. They needed three sets to secure their passage to the semi-final, as they won the first set 21-19, but the Barbadians levelled the game by winning the second set 21-18. The third set was a thriller as they went to the wire before the Ali-Boodoosingh duo prevailed 23-21 to advance to Saturday evening’s semifinal.
In the men’s doubles, the pair Vishal Ramsubhag and Ryan Sinanan defeated compatriots Che Paedro and Doniv Pooran 21-8, 21-1 for a relatively easy passage to the semifinal. They will be joined in the semifinal stage by Gabriel Boodram and Jordan Ramsumair who got past Aaisan Ramcharan and Ethan Ramcharan, 21-19, 21-19, in a hard-fought battle as both Trinidadian pairs fought for a semifinal place. Aaiden and Ethan Ramcharan, despite their efforts can only look on and support their compatriots in the semifinals.
Cheyenne Bhola and Shivani-Koonj-Beharry edged past Natania Mollah and Destiny Rattan 21-18, 24-22 as Mollah and Rattan tried their best to level the game in the second set.
In the early game yesterday, the Cheyenne-Bhola combination found that Canadians Jeslyn Chow and Eliana Zhang were too much as they fell to the North Americans 21-2, 21-1 to bow out at the semifinal stage.
The semifinals continued late yesterday with the finals of all the divisions slated to take place this evening.
