Pan Am Junior Championships serves off

Ryon Jones, Sunday Gleaner Writer

The Ocean Spray Wata/ XX Pan American Junior Badminton Championships, the premier junior badminton event in this region, serves off at the National Indoor Sports Centre today.

The event which runs until next Sunday, will feature in excess of 500 players and an additional 100 parents and officials who have accompanied the teams. Action gets under way at 9 a.m. each day.

Countries to be represented at the tournament include Barbados, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United States of America, Venezuela and of course Jamaica.

Jamaica will be fielding 73 players at the eight-day event. Competitors will be participating in five different age groups: under-11, under-13, under-15, under-17 and under-19.

trio is expected to medal

Three of Jamaica's top under-19 players, Anthony McNee, Dennis Coke and Gerald Isaacs, will be in action from the opening day. The trio is expected to medal in both the men's singles and doubles categories.

Jamaica's other bright medal prospects are Samuel Ricketts and Jonathan Smith who will feature in the boys' under-17 age group. Shawn Williams who will serve off in the boys' under-15 section and Shane Wilson in the boys' under-13 are also expected to give good showings.

Jamaica Badminton Association president, Vishu Tolan, is hoping that with the tournament being staged locally it will not only improve the performance of the Jamaican players, but also raise the profile of the sport locally.

"We are hoping that with the tournament being staged locally it will bring the sport to the forefront; it has to be the legacy that we get out of it at the end of the day," Tolan said. "We must get some additional exposure; we are going to have our youngsters performing at the highest level and, therefore, it must augur well for the future," he added.