No.1 HAWKS PREP FOR WEST REGIONALS
MISSISSAUGA, ON: The no.1 ranked badminton program in the country will be headed to OCAA regionals this weekend, hosted by the University of Toronto-Mississauga. Six other colleges from the west division have entered the tournament and will be looking to dethrone the Hawks.
"There is going to be very good competition this weekend," said OCAA Hall of Famer and badminton head coach Ray Wong. "We will need to play our best to advance to the championships."
Humber will be sending 12 student-athletes to the tournament, six males and six females. Each student-athlete is only permitted to compete in one event, which makes the selection process extremely difficult.
As preparation for this tournament, multiple Hawks have competed in Badminton Canada's Yonex Series. These tournaments are held across Canada and feature the top-ranked players in the country.
Last season, the Hawks captured eight OCAA medals, before winning four CCAA medals at King's College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Olivia Lei (Guang Xi), Tracy Wong and Adam Dong (Su Zhou) captured CCAA gold medals last season, while three sport athlete Jesse Assing (Bethany) brought home a silver medal.
Michael Kopinak, the associate athletic director at Humber College and OCAA badminton convenor, believes Phuthita "Boom" Nilyok is one of the student-athletes to keep an eye on this weekend.
"Humber has a storied history when it comes to badminton," said Mike Kopinak. "From [Tracy] Wong, to [Renee] Yip, to [Olivia] Lei, the Hawks have had a strong program and we think Boom can continue to carry the tradition."
During the Humber Cup in October, Boom won three medals: two golds and one silver. The Thailand natives' only loss was to her teammate Olivia Lei, who is the reigning CCAA female athlete of the year.
The top three winners from the west division will meet the top three from the east division later this month in the championships, hosted by Seneca College. From there, the top two winners will move on to the CCAA championships to compete against some of the best Canada has to offer.
