HAWKS DOMINATE AT YONEX BC ELITE SERIES
VANCOUVER, BC: Two members of the Humber Hawks badminton team travelled to British Columbia over the weekend to compete in the 2015 Yonex BC Elite Series, a tournament featuring the best badminton players in the country.
After putting their talents on display at last season's CCAA Championships, the Hawks once again let the country know they feature some of the best players in badminton. Entered into four competitions, the Hawks came away with four medals: two golds, one silver, and one bronze.
Adam Dong, an international student at Humber College, entered the men's doubles competition with his childhood friend Sam Kim, the defending men's doubles national champion from the ACAC. Paired together and unranked, Dong and Kim put the nation on notice. The duo had no idea the matchups that awaited them if they were going to place in the top three.
In the quarter-finals, they were matched up against Duncan Yao and Nyl Yakura, the ninth ranked team in the country and won in two sets, 21-16 21-18. At the international level, Yakura and his partner Kevin Li are ranked 70th in the world. Yakura will also be attending Humber College in January, enrolling in the health and fitness program and strengthening the already deep Hawks roster.
Just like the quarter-finals, Dong and Kim found themselves once again facing a top-ranked opponent in the semi-finals. On tap to play the duo were Canada's Olympic hopefuls and the 46th ranked team in the world, Adrian Liu and Derrick Ng. Liu and Ng hadn't lost in over five years during Canadian competitions and were also the 2014 Pan Am Champions. At one point in time, Liu had won nine consecutive Canadian national championships.
Surprising everyone but themselves, Dong and Kim upset Canada's best men's doubles team, 21-14 14-21 21-15. The shocked crowd stormed the court in disbelief of what just happened; as the two unranked friends defeated the best team Canada had to offer.
In the finals, Dong and Kim cruised to a 21-17 21-16 victory over the tournament's second seeded team, Philippe Gaumond and Maxime Marin from Quebec.
2014-15 CCAA women's singles national champion Olivia Lei entered the event with three of the top four players in country participating. In the semi-finals, Lei was tasked with playing Canada's third ranked player and 2012 Junior Pan Am Gold Medal winner Brittney Tam. In straight sets, Lei made quick work of Tam, winning 21-14 21-11. Tam went on to win bronze while Lei claimed gold.
Lei also went on to claim silver in women's mixed doubles after losing to three-time national champions Alex Bruce and Phyllis Chan. Chan and Bruce are also members of Canada's Olympic team and are ranked 46th in the world. Alex Bruce also finished fourth in London during the 2012 Olympics for Canada's best-ever Olympic badminton result.
After claiming two gold medals already, Lei and Dong decided to team up and compete in mixed doubles. Faced with a difficult semi-final match once again, the Hawks duo came up short against Canadian Olympians Alex Bruce and Toby Ng, the 25th ranked mixed doubles team in the world. Lei and Dong went on to claim bronze and winning a medal in every competition in which they played.
The Hawks badminton team will now compete in the McMaster "A New Era" Fall Open from November 20-21.
