‘SPORTS

 

 

In the first badminton tournament of the season, the
Royals smashed their way through the competition to cap-
ture first place overall this past weekend at the Capilano
College Sportsplex in North Vancouver.

The Royals simply dominated the field, winning four
gold medals and three silvers en route to their first tourna-
ment victory in over two years with a final total of 219
points. The early victory will put some breathing room
between them and the defending British Columbia
Colleges’ Athletic Association (BCCAA) Champions,
Langara College (164). With a 55-point differential, it’s now
the Royals who sit with a bird’s eye view.

“This weekend definitely will help us. Our athletes
played very well and they were able to win some of the
head to head matches with Langara,” said Head Coach, Al

Mawanrs Bird's Eye View

By Brian McLennon, OP Sports Editor

Mawani. “Lyndsay [Thomson] had an excellent tournament
and has performed to expectations,” he continued.

The highly touted Victoria native from Stelly’s
Secondary won a combined total of three medals; gold in
the women’s singles and the women’s double and a bronze
medal in the mixed doubles competition. For her accom-
plishments, Thompson was awarded the BCCAA Female
Athlete of Week. “It’s kind of exciting,’ she commented as
she learned that she had also nominated for the Canadian
Colleges’ Athletic Associations’ (CCAA), Athlete of the
Month.

In addition to Thompson’s performance, the entire
Royals badminton team compiled the highest overall points
total ata BCCAA tournament in over two years. The quad

18t place victories had the Royals on the centre podium in

every event except for in the Men’s Singles Championship
match, however the Royals still earned some points as
rookie, Jan Veiel won the consolation match. “Jan played
very well this past weekend and we were very pleased with
his performance,” said Mawani. “Another surprise for us
was Phil [Weier] who_picked up a pair of gold medals in
the Men’s Doubles and the in the Mixed Doubles competi-
tions.”

The Women’s Singles finalé saw a pair of Douglas ath-
letes going head-to-head, with Thomson matched up
against her teammate Charmagne Yeung. Thomson ended
up defeating Yeung to capture the gold.

In the Men’s Doubles competition, Alvin Lau and
Philip Weier defeated Langara’s Liu and N¢g to take first
place; and the Women’s Doubles championship match was
an all Douglas event as Thomson and Charmagne Yeung

 

defeated their teammates Akiko Ito and Alice Lee to earn
top place. The Mixed Doubles championship match saw
Philip Weier and Yeung defeat teammates Alvin Lau and
Thomson.

“What a great start for our badminton team,” said ath-
letic director, Lou Rene Legge. “I’m confident that Al
[Mawani] is happy with the performance of his team. He’s
a sensational coach who knows how to win and this week-
end is a perfect example of that.”

A Burnaby Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Mawani has
a legacy of National Championships at Douglas College.
Count them, 19 CCAA National Championships banners
hang from the rafters inside the New West gymnasium.
This awesome display of domination at the national level
resulted in Douglas College being awarded with CCAA’s

25th Anniversary’s Badminton Supremacy Award for
Canada. This prestigious award recognized Douglas
College as the top badminton program in Canada, which
has over 102 member institutions after over 25 years in
existence.

Mawani, a UBC Human Kinetics Instructor, has estab-
lished himself as a first-rate competitive coach. In addition
to his work at UBC, he operates his own business (Shuttle
Sport International), which provides the tools necessary
for athletes and coaches to “raise the bar.” Mawani’s special
effort to provide leadership in the world of sport has
helped to develop grass roots and elite programs.

Douglas College will host the next league tournament
on February 4 and 5 at the Pinetree College Campus.
Check the Badminton team page for more details.

 

WRITE FOR
THE OTHER PRESS}

Solid journalism, great hats

www.theotherpress.ca