HAWKS EYE GOLD AS OCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS OPEN ON FRIDAY AT UTM

2019 OCAA Badminton Championships

Friday & Saturday, February 15 & 16, 2019
University of Toronto – Mississauga
3359 Mississauga Rd., Mississauga, ON

Friday - Round-Robin (rounds 1-4)
Saturday – Round-Robin (round 5) & Playoffs

ETOBICOKE, ON: The Humber Hawks badminton team cruised through the West Regional, winning four of five disciplines and both team titles, while placing nine of ten athletes into the 2019 OCAA Badminton Championship Tournament. The vent will be held for the first time at the University of Toronto – Mississauga (UTM) campus on Friday and Saturday.

The Hawks are led by two-time CCAA National Champion Chloe Rowe, as she will partner up with Victoria Duong in Women's Doubles to challenge for the OCAA crown and another shot at CCAA gold. The two went undefeated on their way to the West Region title.

Arpit Taneja, who took home CCAA Mixed Doubles silver last year, teams up with Ayubu Touray in the men's doubles discipline. The two teamed up at the West Regionals and went undefeated, but were pushed to three sets by the tandem from Mohawk in the very competitive play throughout the entire event.

The Hawks mixed doubles pairing of 2018 CCAA women's doubles gold medalist Elizabeth Duong and her partner Harry Cotaras went through the West Regional at 4-0, and only surrendered double digits in 2 of the 8 sets played.

Ramnish Kumar, winner of three men's singles invitational titles already this year, rolled to a perfect 5-0 record, averaging less than 10 points a set against along the way in men's singles. He had little trouble in the West Division, but will be challenged very strong George Brown player in the provincial event.

Thao Le also advanced to the OCAA Championships in men's singles. He lost to his teammate Ramnish Kumar in the semi-finals, but rebounded to grab the third spot in the discipline. He is a very skilled player in what is a very deep men's singles pool. A final four appearance and a shot of a podium spot are in play for him this coming weekend. 

Veteran Maria Nguyen advanced to the OCAA Championships by way of her third-place finish in women's singles at the West Regional. At 4-2 over the event, she was pretty close to improving on her third-place spot, and will have the chance to challenge for a podium spot this weekend.

Championship Website: http://ocaachampionships.com/championships/badm/2018-19/index