As the sun rose early Saturday morning, the thought of another football game became a stressful note for Blues fans. But, there was something that one could actually get excited about this weekend: the badminton squad was taking to the courts and were ready to smash all opponents.
Excitement was high in fans that came out to the AC to see the team play. Thoughts of a potential sensory experience were apparent: the whipping of the rackets, the spontaneity of the moving birdie, and the feeling of support from the grandstands. The spectators were more than ready for what was to come.
And they were not disappointed by what they saw. The Varsity Blues badminton team faced rivals Waterloo Warriors and McMaster Marauders on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, in high-paced regular season matches. The Blues came incredibly short of victory against the Warriors Saturday, losing 8-5, but triumphantly claimed victory-11-2 over the Marauders-in Sunday’s action.
“Our victory against Mac today was really unbelievable, as the Blues players dominated from start to finish,” Wayne King, head coach of the Blues’ squads, excitedly decreed once all of the weekend’s matches had ended. “Although we lost two matches out of the thirteen, they were both in three games, and the number two men’s doubles match involved a substitute, Warren Leung, in place of veteran Phil Bennington.”
After a rebuilding season in 2004, the weekend’s results were an indication that the tide is turning for these fierce competitors. Their potential really came through last weekend.
“Our success can be attributed to the development of our starters after last year’s rebuilding season,” said King.
The Blues saw outstanding performances from much of their roster, especially from the rookies. Men’s rookie and Glencoe Club alumnus Will Johnson easily won his singles match Sunday, 15-9, 15-2.
Rookie Tiffany Ngai had two wins against the Marauders and another victory against Waterloo in doubles play.
“[Tiffany] and veteran Shilin Cheung will certainly be a force to reckon with in the number two spot on the women’s doubles team,” added King.
Leung, Another rookie, who was added to the roster just before gametime due to a teammate’s injury, played extremely well both in men’s doubles-where he lost-and in a victorious final match on Sunday with mixed doubles partner Jennifer Mok.
“As a group the women’s team has returned to its usual place of strength in the league,” King proclaimed after play had finished on Sunday.
The women’s squad has only been defeated in three matches this season and has overwhelmingly outdone its win total from last year. They were a horrid 1-24 in 2004-05.
The foundation of the women’s squad can be found in its strongest players. This year those players are Melissa Nock and Anca Gaspar.
“One strong point of this whole day is that we had the crowd and our teammates giving us a lot of support,” said Nock, a graduate student, after winning her first match of the day.
Nock and Gaspar put on incredible performances on the weekend for the women’s squad, winning literally all their matches. At the moment, the pair are undefeated for the season.
Although the men were not as productive with match wins on Saturday, they had a great showing against McMaster, with landslide wins from Andy Lam, Calvin Cheng, and rookie Will Johnson.
Two weeks ago, the Blues pulled off the upset of the year, as they defeated the defending Ontario University Athletics (OUA) champion Western Mustangs in Western’s own backyard. The final score was 7-6.
“Most observers thought [the upset victory] was only because Western had taken our squad too lightly,” commented King. “After this weekend, where we played well against Waterloo and McMaster, our goals for the season have now changed to thinking about winning a medal in the playoffs, instead of just making it into the playoffs.”
And so the Blues prepare for their next challenge, now expecting better things from this season than they previously thought possible. They take their 2-1 record and a mountain of confidence into Saturday’s contest against the Ryerson Rams at the AC’s sports gym.
