INJURED AND BATTERED KUMAR ADVANCES TO CCAA MEN’S SINGLES GOLD MATCH
TRURO, NS: After an injury early on Day 1 threatened to finish his first ever CCAA National Badminton Championship early, OCAA Player of the Year and CCAA All-Canadian Ramnish Kumar dug down as deep as an athlete can and is now only one step away from claiming his first ever national title.
This is indeed a tale worth telling, letting you in on his journey at Dalhousie AC in Truro, Nova Scotia.
His injury occurred early, limiting his mobility and playing a huge factor on his way to consecutive losses to start the championships. He had never in his collegiate career suffered two losses in a men's singles event.
Now down at the bottom of the pool at 0-2, he had to battle or fall by the wayside as only four of the six players would advance to the playoff round. And, battle he did. Kumar won his third match on Day 1, but it was a grueling three-setter that saw him come from one-down to win the next two sets 21-19 and 21-14.
Thankfully the day ended after that match, but he was still not out of the woods by way of his 1-2 record.
After a nights rest and the hope he would heal fast, he started Day 2 with yet another three-setter, coming out on top by way of a 21-17 third set win. The last round robin match was over in a flash, with him winning 21-2, 21-2.
It was on to the playoffs, but as luck would have it, his 3-2 record would have him drop to fourth because of tie-breakers and a match up with fellow OCAA star and 2018 CCAA Silver Medalist Ace Zeng of George Brown. Zeng finished first and had knocked off Kumar 2-0 in round robin play.
With the right to play for CCAA gold, he had to battle back from 1-0 to win the next two sets 21-17 and 21-16.
His opponent will be Nicolas Pittman of Concordia (ACAC) . The two played on Day 2, with Kumar winning in three sets.
