Jamaica women's champion Tahlia Richardson riding a wave as she eyes 2024 Olympic berth

By March 29, 2023
Richardson won double gold at Doubles Mania at GC Foster College in Spanish Town, St Catherine on March 25. Richardson won double gold at Doubles Mania at GC Foster College in Spanish Town, St Catherine on March 25.

Jamaica’s national women’s badminton champion Tahlia Richardson is enjoying a purple patch, something she welcomes as she continues her journey in attempting to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.

Ever since she won the Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles titles at the Jamaica National Badminton Championships in November last year, Richardson has been on a tear.

This past weekend, March 25, she won the Mixed Doubles and Women’s Open Doubles at the Doubles Mania Tournament at GC Foster College in Spanish Town, St Catherine. The 2022 Female Badminton Athlete of the Year partnered with Kenneth Anglin to win the mixed doubles over Antoinette Ingleton and TJ Hines and then teamed up with former national champion Katherine Wynter to win the Women’s Doubles.

She went into the tournament coming off a bronze medal winning performance with Samuel Ricketts at the 2023 Giraldilla International in Havana, Cuba from March 16-19. And, in February, she won the Tournament of Kings defeating Wynter in the final.

She credits these successes to the work she has been putting in to improve her game.

“I think I have done really well whereas my fitness is up, I am getting more technical work in and I am able to go to tournaments and perform,” she said.

“The bronze medal for mixed was good. We lost to Bulgaria who ended up winning the tournament so that said something about the level we’re playing at,” she said.

“For singles I made it to the quarter-finals, which is good (Olympic qualification) points. I had played the top seed.”

The improved play, she said, has helped her go deeper into tournaments, another sign of her improved play.

“I have been matriculating into tournaments better and better. Whereas I used to make it to the round of 16 now I am making it to the quarter-finals which shows that there is improvement and getting good points geared towards the Olympics in 2024.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leighton Levy

Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.

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    Jamaica’s Women’s champion Tahlia Richardson, despite not making it past the quarter-finals in any of her events at the recent XXIV Yonex Pan American Individual Championships at the GC Foster College in her home country, remains positive and grateful for the experience.

    Richardson, who played in mixed doubles, women's doubles, and singles events, faced tough competition from players around the world. Speaking about her mixed doubles match with partner Samuel Ricketts, where they lost to Canada’s Joshua Hurlburt-Yu and Rachel Honderich, Richardson said, "It was a good match. We don't usually get to play people of that calibre; these people are playing in England and on the other side of the world. There were some things we could have capitalized on more."

    While disappointed with not progressing further in the tournament, Richardson remains grateful for the opportunity to compete against top players and is looking forward to continuing to grow as a player. "I am not too disappointed because I see where I have grown, especially from previous games just in this tournament so I am really grateful that we were able to play and get to the quarter-final match where we showed that we were able to play these top countries and in few months’ time we will be able to compete against them better," she added.

    In the opening round of mixed doubles, Richardson and Ricketts beat the third seed, Johnathan Solis and Diana Corleto Soto, in a closely contested match. Richardson said, "For Mixed Doubles we drew the third seed that was a pretty tough match that went to three sets but it showed what we were capable of doing. Our second round against Mexico was easier than the third seed that we had played, so we were pretty confident going into play the quarter-finals. Sometimes players are better and they were better than us."

    In singles, Richardson made it to the second round before losing to Mexico's Vanessa Maricela Garcia Contreras. Despite the loss, she remains pleased with her game play and sees areas for improvement. "I have seen my growth but my legs need to get stronger so I need to work on that. I am not disappointed in my game play because based on what my coaches were telling me tactically I was playing well so I am pleased with that I am able to absorb the information that my coaches give me," she explained.

    In women's doubles, Richardson and partner Kathryn Wynter lost to Fatima Beatriz Centeno Fuentes and Daniela Hernandez in a closely contested match. Reflecting on the game, Richardson said, "For the Women’s doubles, it was a winnable match but I didn’t step into the role that I need to play and I didn’t realize that until I reflected on the match and seeing that where my strength is and where my partner Kathryn Wynter’s strengths are."

    Overall, Richardson remains optimistic about her future as a badminton player and is looking forward to continuing to work on her weaknesses to improve her game.

     

     



  • Hulburt-Yu/Honderich defeat Ricketts/Richardson 21-11, 21-15 to set up Canada vs Brazil MD semis at XXVI Yonex Pan Am Individual Championships Hulburt-Yu/Honderich defeat Ricketts/Richardson 21-11, 21-15 to set up Canada vs Brazil MD semis at XXVI Yonex Pan Am Individual Championships

    Jamaica’s top mixed-doubles pair of Samuel Ricketts and Tahlia Richardson bowed out at the quarter-final stage of the XXVI Yonex Pan Am Individual Championships which in its penultimate day at the GC Foster College in Spanish Town, St Catherine on Friday.

    The Jamaican pair lost 21-11, 21-15 to Canadian pair of Joshua Hulburt-Yu and Rachel Honderich in a match that lasted 26 minutes.

    Ricketts and Richardson were the second Jamaican pair the Canadians have beaten in the tournament having eliminated Bradley Evans and Rihanna Rust 21-2, 21-4 during the round of 32 on Wednesday.

    The Canadians will face the Brazilian duo of Davi Silva and Sania Lima who defeated the USA’s Vinson Chiu and Jennie Gai 21-16, 26-24 in their quarter-final match up.

    Another Canadian pair, Alexander Lindeman and Josephine Wu also advanced to the Mixed Doubles semi-finals after they defeated Mexico’s Luis Armando Montoya Navarro and Miriam Jacqueline Rodriquez Perez 21-12, 21-19.

    It will be a Canada vs Brazil semi-final after Fabricio Farias and Jacqueline Lima bested Perus’ Jose Guevara and Ines Lucia Castillo Salazar 21-14, 21-10 in their quarter-final encounter.

  • GC Foster College secure Men’s and Women’s titles at Inter Collegiate Track & Field Championships GC Foster College secure Men’s and Women’s titles at Inter Collegiate Track & Field Championships

    GC Foster College emerged as overall winners on the Men’s and Women’s sides at Friday’s Inter Collegiate Track and Field Championships held at the GC Foster College track.

    The men finished with 203 points, 71 points ahead of UWI Mona in second while the rest of the top five included Mico University College (77 points), Moneague College (50 points) and Shortwood Teachers College (39 points).

    On the women’s side, GC Foster racked up 175 points wo win ahead of Moneague College (96 points), Mico University College (84 points) and UWI Mona (74 points).

    Lushane Wilson was a standout performer on the men’s side, jumping a record 2.21m to win the high jump, breaking the late Germaine Mason’s record of 2.20m done all the way back in 2003. Wilson also won the triple jump with 15.38m ahead of teammate Chevau Parkinson (14.89m) and UWI Mona’s Jeremy Hibbert (14.29m).

    GC Foster’s Kadrian Goldson was also in fine form, running 10.28 to win the 100m ahead of UWI Mona’s Guyanese Olympian, Emmanuel Archibald, who ran 10.35 for second. Goldson’s GC Foster teammate Odaine McPherson was third in 10.41. The 200m was won by UWI Mona’s Manzinho Barrett in 21.15 ahead of the GC Foster pair Jevaughn Whyte (21.20) and Michael Sharp (21.22).

    Archibald rebounded to win the long jump in 7.55m ahead of triple jump runner-up Parkinson (6.83m) and GC Foster’s David Tomlinson (6.77m).

    GC Foster’s Zandrion Barnes ran 45.75 for a comfortable victory in the 400m. UWI Mona’s Blaine Buckle was second in 48.01 while GC Foster’s Sage Primus ran 48.51 for third.

    On the women’s side, GC Foster finished first and second in the 100m through Mickaell Moodie (11.65) and Keiffer Bailey (12.02) while UTECH’s SHanaka Anderson was third in 13.01.

    The 400m saw a similar result for the hosts as Odeisha Nanton ran 55.94 for victory ahead of teammate Toniann Lindsay (57.57) while Moneague College’s Shanita Beckford was third in 58.99.

     

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