HAMILTON, Ont. - Forty-eight student-athletes will trek up the Niagara Escarpment to compete at the 2018 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Badminton Championships presented by belairdirect beginning on Friday.
All athletes earned their spot at provincials by finishing in the Top 3 at their respective regional championships earlier this month. Nine schools will be represented at this year's event hosted by Mohawk College.
In men's singles, George Brown's Yuge Zeng (China) went undefeated at the East regional, while in the West, Fanshawe's Sahil Sahil (India) also ran the table. They will be joined by St. Clair's Henry Andkilde (Windsor), Seneca's Raman Kumar (India), Centennial's Alishan Shalwani (Uganda) and Humber's Jonathan Young (Richmond Hill). With no returning 2016 medal winners, there will be three first-timers on the OCAA men's singles podium.
The same can be said for women's singles. George Brown's Ann Hoang (Vietnam) was undefeated at the East regional, while Fanshawe's Riley Hogan (Sault Ste. Marie), a former OCAA bronze medalist in women's doubles, went undefeated at the West regional. They will be joined by Centennial's Jin Byun (Toronto), Humber's Maria Nguyen (Toronto), Boréal's Emilie Roy (South Porcupine), and Rachel Wong (Vancouver, B.C.) of the University of Toronto Mississauga.
Men's doubles will have some familiarity compared to last year. George Brown's Alex Chao (Ottawa), who earned silver in 2017, and new partner Yang Jin (Toronto), took top spot at the East regional with an undefeated record. Georgian's Ethan Zhao (China) and Eric Kern (Desbarats), the bronze medalists from last year, booked their return trip to provincials finishing second in the East. Humber's Cameron Lai (Mississauga), a 2017 mixed doubles silver medalist, and Darcy Schmidt (Halliburton), a 2015 men's doubles silver medalist, went undefeated in the West regional, and will be joined by Centennial's Brandon Cheung (Scarborough) and Gerald Sequeira (Toronto); Fanshawe's Sanhaster Dan (London) and Allan Pao (London); and Gary Tin (Richmond Hill) and Thanh Lam (Vaughan) of UTM.
Humber's Chloe Rowe (Newcastle) looks to defend her women's doubles gold medal with new partner Elizabeth Duong (Mississauga). Both went undefeated in the West regional. George Brown's Yunji Kim (Togo) and Angeline Alviar (Toronto), reigning OCAA silver medalists, were the top duo in the East regional. Also competing in women's doubles are Georgian's Courtney Brewer (Manitouwadge) and Michelle Kozlowskyj (Garson); St. Clair's Jordyn Clark (Leamington) and Madisyn Clark (Leamington); Seneca's Sarah Nguy (Richmond Hill) and Logi Thedchanamoorthy (Toronto); and Amy Hsiao (Taiwan) and Holly Wong (Toronto) of UTM.
Finally, Humber's Crystal Qu (China) and Arpit Teneja (India) went undefeated at the West regional in mixed doubles. Seneca's Vinson Wong (Toronto), reigning OCAA gold medalist, is partnering with Lin Qi (China) this season as he aims for a repeat. Rounding out the mixed doubles field include Bryan Bai (China) and Cynthia Chao (Taiwan) of UTM; Centennial's Chirag Dave (India) and Taylor Liou (Toronto); George Brown's Amy Ding (China) and Mike Ra (Toronto); and St. Clair's Peter Najem (Leamington) and Queenie Quintanilla (Windsor).
Play begins on Friday at 12:15 p.m. with the first four rounds of the round robin in each discipline: men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles. The competition continues Saturday morning at 9 a.m. with the final round robin round, followed by the medal round which is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m.
The gold and silver medalists from the OCAA will advance to the 2018 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Badminton National Championships in Edmonton from Mar. 1-3.
Championship Website: www.ocaa.com/badm
- OCAA -
ABOUT ONTARIO COLLEGES ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
The Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) is the recognized leader in intercollegiate athletics in the province, dedicated to student-athlete and sport development. The OCAA has 29 members sponsoring 12 varsity sports.
For additional information please contact:
Josh Bell-Webster
Marketing and Communications
Ontario Colleges Athletic Association
Tel: 416-426-7041
Fax: 416-426-7308
E-mail: bell-webster@ocaa.com