NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Baylie Grunewald and Kathleen Lanctot from Medicine Hat High anticipate the incoming shuttlecock in their first match of the ASAA badminton provincials Friday at Hat High. Other matches were also held at Crescent Heights and South Ridge YMCA/Notre Dame.
The province’s top high school badminton athletes were on full display Friday.
There were 382 badminton players in action at Hat High, Crescent Heights and South Ridge YMCA/Notre Dame for day one of the ASAA badminton provincial championships.
Fifteen athletes from Medicine Hat area schools were in action across the junior, intermediate and senior ranks competing in singles, doubles and mixed-doubles action. Round-robin play started at 12:30 p.m. and went until 6 p.m.
The playoffs start Saturday morning with matches being split as they were in the round robin, with juniors playing at Crescent Heights, intermediates at South Ridge Y/Notre Dame and seniors at Hat High. The medal matches start at 1 p.m. and all take place at Hat High.
Hat High seniors Baylie Grunewald and Kathleen Lanctot won their first girls doubles match against Notre Dame, sweeping both games 21-4 and 21-16. The duo then beat Sexsmith’s girls doubles team in two games, winning 22-20 and 21-18. They dropped their final match against St. Francis’, who went undefeated, 14-21 and 10-21.
Eagle Butte’s Kian Simon and Kierra Zentner opened their seniors mixed-doubles action with a two-game win (21-16, 21-18) win over Notre Dame. They continued their success into their second match, another two-game win (22-20, 21-16) over Ecole Heritage. The Talons duo dropped their third match of the day in two games to John G. Diefenbaker’s mixed duo (17-21,15-21).
Justin Jager and Axton Ferguson from Eagle Butte bounced back from a loss in their first intermediate boys doubles action against Wainwright (12-21, 22-20,19-21) with a two-game win over Hillside (21-18, 21-15). Jager and Ferguson dropped their final match of the day against John G. Diefenbaker (18-21,16-21).
Benny Bergen from Cherry Coulee Christian dropped his matches in the intermediate boys singles division. He fell in two games to Hunting Hills (5-21, 12-21), two games to Charles Spencer (16-21, 9-21) and John G. Diefenbaker (10-21, 17-21).
Hat High’s Nikoo Johandardoost and Kylee Schulr finished their round-robin play in the junior girls doubles division with a record of 2-1. They beat Wainwright’s duo (7-12, 21-11, 21-16), Glenmary (21-10, 21-13) before losing to Winston Churchill’s duo (13-21, 12-21).
Hawks junior boys Tyson Van Ham and Eddie Yang dropped all three of their doubles matches Friday, losing to Notre Dame (15-21, 9-21) Glenmary in three games (21-17, 13-21, 15-21) and Sir Winston Churchill (11-21, 7-21).
Monsignor McCoy’s Rylan and Oliia Bender went 2-1 in their junior mixed-doubles play. They opened provincials with an two-game win over Lacombe (21-16, 21-11) and carried that success into their two-game win against Paul Rowe’s duo (21-12,21-19). They dropped their final match against Western Canada (7-21, 15-21).
Eagle Butte’s Madden Kelly dropped two of his matches in the junior boys singles division, falling to Hunting Hills (18-21, 10-21) and Glenmary (17-21, 21-16, 15-21). Kelly picked up a walkover win in his final match against Master’s College.
McCoy’s Gerhard Knauer finished his junior boys singles round-robin action with two wins and a loss. Knauer beat Gus Wetter’s solo boy in two games (21-11, 21-9), and followed that up win a two-game win over EW Pratt (21-15, 21-15). He dropped his final round-robin bout against Centennial (21-23, 9-21).
Provincial badminton playoffs start Saturday at 9 a.m.
