OLDS — Two members of the Olds College badminton team won bronze during the nationals at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology March 17 to 19.
Priyanna Ramdhani and Abigail Taylor qualified for that trip after they won silver in women’s doubles during the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) championships, hosted by Olds College March 5-6.
Both were named the college’s co-athletes of the week.
Mary Smith, a former Olds College badminton coach who’s helping the team again, told the Albertan that the strategy they employed worked really well.
Abby being a rookie this year with limited knowledge, we focused on doing simple but effective shots,” Smith wrote.
A big part of the strategy was having Taylor spend most of her time at the net and having Ramdhani, an award-winning three-year team veteran cover the back court.
The team coined the term "the wall of Abby" for that strategy.
In her role at the back of the court, Ramdhani fired the more technical shots to keep opposing teams off balance.
“Then both girls would go in for the net kill and smash,” Smith wrote.
During the ACAC event in Olds, Ramdhani also won bronze women’s singles and a bronze in mixed doubles. Her brother, Narayan, who attends King’s College in Edmonton, also qualified for the nationals.
Taylor also placed fifth in mixed doubles with partner Brayden Berdahl and seventh in women's singles.
Following are other results for Broncos badminton team members:
Tye Belanger: bronze in mixed doubles with Ramdhani, fourth men's doubles with Berdahl and eighth men's singles.
In addition to the other placings mentioned above, Berdahl finished 12th in men's singles.
Keith Husedby placed 15th in men's singles.
Ramdhani, a third-year sports management student at Olds College, has been a stellar badminton player for the Broncos ever since she came to Olds from her home country of Guyana.
She’s been playing the sport since the age of 5, coached by her dad, Gokarn, who eventually became the badminton coach at Olds College.
Unfortunately, he passed away last October, the first of two really rough blows for Priyanna. Her grandmother passed away in January.
Smith helped coach the team after Gokarn’s passing.
“Priyanna Ramdhani has shown a strength of character this season after persevering through several personal tragedies,” Smith wrote.
“Not only has she shown dedication to her sport and training by achieving three ACAC championship medals, she has also been a bright light of encouragement for her teammates throughout the season.
“Priyanna lives the Broncos’ values every day on and off the court. Integrity, accountability, pride, passion, collaboration and excellence are interwoven into every aspect of this truly amazing young athlete,” she wrote.
Smith was also very impressed with Taylor’s performance, as she’s a rookie.
“Amazing performance for a first-year,” she wrote.
Priyanna Ramdhani could not be reached for comment at press time.
