Kaylee Choi and Sarah Song earned bronze in Women’s Doubles at the CCAA Badminton Championships in Edmonton, Alberta (Feb. 28 – Mar. 1).
Sahil Lokhande finished fourth in Men’s Singles, while Ellen Shen placed sixth in Women’s Singles.
Choi and Song, who won gold at the OCAA Championships, faced tough competition in round-robin play. Four of their five matches went to three sets as they finished 2-3, securing a spot in the semi-finals. Their streak of intense three-set battles continued, but they fell 2-1 (21-19, 19-21, 15-21) to a team from King’s University, sending them to the bronze medal match against SAIT College. Once again, the match went to three sets, but this time, Choi and Song came out on top, winning 2-1 (26-24, 12-21, 21-18) to secure the bronze, marking the second straight season the program has earned a CCAA medal in this discipline.
"The Women's doubles draw was extremely competitive as every match felt like a gold medal mach. Razor thin margins for error to determine as high as 1st all the way to 4th," first-year head coach Howard Wong explained. "It was never in doubt they wanted to win a medal, the color was yet to be determined. Although it was heartbreaking for them to lose the semis in three sets it takes great character for them to recompose themselves both emotionally and mentally after such a loss."
In Men’s Singles, Lokhande battled through two close three-set matches, leaving him at 1-3 heading into his final round-robin match. Facing a win-or-go-home scenario, he delivered a dominant 2-0 (21-17, 21-12) victory over NAIT College to advance to the semi-finals, setting up an OCAA gold medal rematch with Humber College. Unfortunately, he fell in both the semi-finals and bronze medal match, finishing fourth in Canada. Shen fought hard in Women’s Singles, but could not advance past the round-robin stage.
"Sahil at CCAAs was a totally different player from how he competed at Provincials. He was peaking and performing at a level I had not ever seen prior during the season in terms of consistency and intensity of play," Wong said. "Sahil's mental composure and prior experience really helped in dealing with the hostile crowds (drums, cowbells, snide comments), as he relishes and embraces those moments and it was reflected by his passion on the court. If you re-watch the YouTube streams, all of Sahil's matches were must-see appointment television as he had wildly entertaining and highlight reel shots on multiple rallies that captivated all spectators and athletes in attendance."
Shen fought hard in Women’s Singles, but could not advance past the round-robin stage.
"She gave a valiant effort during pool play, but her overall inexperience especially at the CCAA level may have been quite overwhelming for her compared to Provincials as everything is ramped up 10x: intensity, pressure, level of competition," Wong stated. "When Ellen looks back, she'll realize her accomplishments of winning the OCAA Gold and her contributions to help bringing back the Women's Banner can never be taken away. I hope she can reflect back on her journey and be proud of how extremely difficult it is to simply make Nationals and to represent GBC."
Full Results
When taking time to reflect on his first season as head coach, Wong is extremely proud of the effort and commitment from every single person.
"If I were told by a fortune teller at the start of the season the results then it certainly has exceeded all expectations. However as the season progressed and the competition was well scouted, the bar definitely got raised," he explained. "The coaching team believed all the players that competed at Provincials were medal contenders. We continued to believe the players competing at CCAAs were medal contenders and possibly Gold medalists. The players made us believe and in their hearts they learned to believe in themselves."
