Local badminton players to test skills against world-class opponents
World-class badminton players from around the globe will spring into action when the 2015 International Badminton Championship starts at the Alfred Sangster Auditorium at the University of Technology today.
Local fans will have the rare opportunity to witness their own top players vying for ranking points when the elimination round begins at 4:30 pm.
The level four International Series tournament promises to deliver non-stop action as players compete in men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. The competition culminates on March 22 as the finalists battle for US$5,000 and other prizes.
Current Under-19 and senior female champion, Katherine Wynter, will lead seven other women in battle against top-foreign players in Zuzana Pavelkova (Czech Republic), who is ranked at 94 in the world; , Nikte Alejandra Sotomayor (Guatemala), who is ranked at 117 in the world and Ebru Tunali (Turkey), ranked at 139th in the world.
Under-19 male champion, Sean Wilson, headlines 14 men going into the tough and intense competition which will feature 56-ranked Howard Shu of the United States of America; 65th-ranked Luka Wraber (Austria) and Rodolf Ramirez (Guatemala) ranked at 118th.
Wynter, ranked 1010th in the world, will play Crystal Leefmans of Suriname in her first match in a women’s singles encounter, and the Jamaican said she is looking forward to the challenge.
“I am very excited and a little nervous at the same time. I haven’t played against her before, but I have seen her in action before and she can play good. I ranked lower than her, but I am not underestimating any player (as) I am going into this game with one thing in mind and that is to win,” the 18-year-old Wynter told the Jamaica Observer.
“We did some training on the court yesterday (Monday) and Tuesday to adapt to playing conditions (and) training went well and I am happy with my form at the moment,” she added.
If Wynter beats Leefmans in round one, she will meet the tournament number one-ranked player Pavelkova in the quarter-finals.
“This is my first major tournament for the year and I am happy where I am at the moment. I am taking one game at a time as I want to win every match that I am playing,” she noted.
The tournament is planned to become a permanent fixture on the Jamaica Badminton Association’s annual calendar. As such, next year, it will be one of the last qualifying tournaments for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Jamaica’s squad: Men — Sean Wilson, Shane Wilson (Sean’s brother), Dennis Coke, Kemar Valentine, Jonathan Smith, Willroy Myles, Anthony McNee, Che Beckford, Dayon Reid, Tremar Barham, Mathew Lee, Jermarey Gordon, Erin Bailey and Kenneth Anglin.
Women — Katherine Wynter, Ruth Williams, Mikaylia Haldane, Cara Grant-Hamilton, Esther Reynolds, Christine Leyow, Nicole Simpson and Alana Bailey.
