Cardinals Soar in Jr. Badminton Championship
By Larry Moko
Leave it to the Cardinals to dominate a sport where the birdies fly.
On Day 1 of the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic junior high school badminton championships Wednesday, the St. John Henry Newman Cardinals captured two titles -- women's singles and mixed doubles -- while placing third in women's doubles.
The eight-school competition was scheduled to wrap up May 15 at Cathedral with the boys' singles and boys' doubles categories.
Newman's team strength was also evident by the fact that two Cardinals were going head to head in the women's singles final. In that match, Grace Fleming defeated teammate Lauren Brohman.
"We're happy," Newman co-coach Rich Minken said of the Cardinals overall performance. "It's exciting to see based off the work that they put in at practice. We were hoping it would work out in our favour today."
According to Newman's other coach, veteran Tom Campanella, a team points championship for the Cardinals would be the school's first since 2015.
"The last year we won junior we also won senior," he said.
Fleming said the Cardinals worked hard at each practice session this season and the coaches are to be thanked for their efforts.
"Badminton is something I just play for fun," said Fleming, who also shines on the basketball court with the senior team. "So I was really excited to come to this tournament. I gave it my all and ended up winning, which I'm really happy about."
Fleming competed in badminton for the first time last year when she was in Grade 9.
"We play each other at practice a lot," she said of her singles final opponent. "I actually love playing against Lauren. We make each other better. It sucked that we had to go against each other today and knock each other off."
Said Campanella: "Grace showed a lot of natural skill last year. She moves well on the court."
Third and fourth-place finishers respectively in women's singles were Chloe Kines of Cathedral and Yzabelle Ching of Newman.
The other gold medal for Newman went to the duo of Cole Fursman and Izzy Rowan. They topped Nah-Tam Dang and Eddy Demsa of the Cathedral Gaels.
"I knew the mixed team would do well today," Campanella said. "Cole is a great player. He's in Grade 10 so he has that year of experience. Izzy is a Grade 9 volleyball player. She has natural athleticism and a lot of power when playing badminton."
The third-place showing for Newman was by Teagan Murphy and Ophelia Ribaril in women's doubles.
Overall, in women's doubles, the title was won by Lana Chiu and Mara Craciun of the Bishop Tonnos Titans. Silver went to Cathedral's Samara-Lee Jardine and Sophia Ramirez.
Chiu and Craciun both play for the Titans at the senior level in volleyball. Last year, Chiu paired with another partner to come third in the women's doubles category.
Fourth-place in women's doubles went to another Tonnos entry -- Addison Turkstra and Leila Soccio.
In mixed doubles, Mia Van Kemenade and Christian Boire of the ACMT Jaguars captured third spot, while Cathedral's Anh Dang and Eion Innes came fourth.
"We have a lot of great athletes," Campanella said. "I hope they stick with badminton because they have talent and they can have a shot at GHAC in Grade 11 and 12."
Photos by R.F. (Bob) Butrym, RFB Sport Photography
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