HAMILTON, Ont. - There were newcomers mixed with familiar faces on the podium at the 2018 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Badminton Championships presented by belairdirect and hosted by Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ont.
OCAA Men's Badminton Player of the Year Yuge Zeng (China) of George Brown is the new OCAA men's singles champion, defeating silver medalist Sahil Sahil (India) of Fanshawe 21-11, 21-16 in the finale. Zeng went undefeated at the championship. Alishan Shalwani (Uganda) of Centennial was down one set before rallying to defeat Seneca's Raman Kumar (India) 18-21, 21-14 and 21-10 in the bronze medal game. Zeng, Sahil and Shalwani are all first-time OCAA medalists.
George Brown's Ann Hoang (Vietnam) is the new OCAA women's singles champion, defeating Riley Hogan (Sault Ste. Marie) of Fanshawe 25-11, 25-16 in the gold medal game. Hoang did not lost a set at provincials en route to her first OCAA medal. Hogan adds a silver medal to her previous OCAA bronze medal in women's doubles. Rachel Wong (Vancouver, B.C.) of the University of Toronto Mississauga defeated Boréal's Emilie Roy (South Porcupine) 23-21, 21-6 for her first provincial bronze medal.
Humber's Cameron Lai (Mississauga) and Darcy Schmidt (Halliburton), who both previously won OCAA silver medals in separate doubles competitions, teamed up to win their first OCAA gold medals, defeating Georgian's Ethan Zhao (China) and Eric Kern (Desbarats) 21-12, 21-15 in the men's doubles finale. Lai and Schmidt did not drop a set in the competition, while Zhao and Kern improved on their bronze standing last year. This year's bronze medalists are George Brown's Alex Chao (Ottawa) and Yang Jin (Toronto), who defeated Gary Tin (Richmond Hill) and Thanh Lam (Vaughan) of UTM 18-21, 21-6, 21-12. Chao is now a two-time OCAA medalist, earning silver in men's doubles in 2017.
OCAA Women's Badminton Player of the Year Chloe Rowe (Newcastle) and her women's doubles partner Elizabeth Duong (Mississauga) avenged an earlier loss in the round robin to take a second straight gold medal for Rowe and a first for Duong. The Humber duo defeated George Brown's Yunji Kim (Togo) and Angeline Alviar (Toronto) 21-18, 21-10 in the finale. For Kim and Alviar, they take silver a second straight year. Georgian's Courtney Brewer (Manitouwadge) and Michelle Kozlowskyj (Garson) defeated Amy Hsiao (Taiwan) and Holly Wong (Toronto) of UTM 21-17, 21-13 in the bronze medal game for their first OCAA podium finish.
Humber's Crystal Qu (China) and Arpit Teneja (India) had an unblemished record to take mixed doubles gold, defeating George Brown's Amy Ding (China) and Mike Ra (Toronto) 21-13, 21-19 in the finale. Seneca's Vinson Wong (Toronto) and Lin Qi (China) won the bronze medal game in a 21-14, 21-12 decision over St. Clair's Peter Najem (Leamington) and Queenie Quintanilla (Windsor). With the exception of last year's gold medalist Wong, the other five mixed medalists reached the OCAA podium for the first time.
In the team competition, George Brown won both men's and women's championships.
A total of 48 student-athletes competed at the OCAA provincials, representing nine schools.
All OCAA gold and silver medalists will now advance to the 2018 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Badminton National Championships in Edmonton from Mar. 1-3.
Championship Website: www.ocaa.com/badm
2018 OCAA BADMINTON RESULTS
Men's Singles
Gold: Yuge Zeng, George Brown
Silver: Sahil Sahil, Fanshawe
Bronze: Alishan Shalwani, Centennial
Women's Singles
Gold: Ann Hoang, George Brown
Silver: Riley Hogan, Fanshawe
Bronze: Rachel Wong, Toronto Mississauga
Men's Doubles
Gold: Cameron Lai and Darcy Schmidt, Humber
Silver: Eric Kern and Ethan Zhao, Georgian
Bronze: Alex Chao and Yang Jin, George Brown
Women's Doubles
Gold: Elizabeth Duong and Chloe Rowe, Humber
Silver: Angeline Alviar and Yunji Kim, George Brown
Bronze: Courtney Brewer and Michelle Kozlowskyj, Georgian
Mixed Doubles
Gold: Crystal Qu and Arpit Teneja, Humber
Silver: Amy Ding and Mike Ra, George Brown
Bronze: Lin Qi and Vinson Wong, Seneca
OCAA Women's Team Champions
George Brown Huskies
OCAA Men's Team Champions
George Brown Huskies
- OCAA -
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E-mail: bell-webster@ocaa.com