Jr. Badminton Championship Wraps Up
By Larry Moko
Most of the crowd's enthusiastic cheering and applause solidly supported Dario Vlasic's opponent during the high school badminton gold-medal match Thursday.
But that didn't bother Vlasic.
The Grade 10 student from Bishop Ryan wasn't rattled by the noise and went on to defeat Tabeel Kamal of the Cathedral Gaels to capture the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic men's singles title.
The two-day junior competition was held May 14-15 at the Cathedral gym.
"It's hard when they're cheering for their kid," Vlasic said. "It gets in your head. But that's part of the game. You've got to be strong mentally and physically on the court."
Vlasic experienced almost the same situation a year ago at Cathedral when he faced another Gaels favourite -- Tommy Nguyen -- in the singles final. On that occasion, however, the older Cathedral player took top honours over the BR rookie.
"Obviously, I was disappointed last year when I didn't get the win," Vlasic said. "But I came out hard this year and reached my goal. Getting the gold is all that mattered."
Vlasic went unbeaten at the 2025 tournament. That differed from a year ago when, after losing a second-round match, he needed to play nine matches along the way at the double-knockout competition.
"It was sheer determination," he recalled.
The city tournament also features singles, doubles and mixed doubles events for men and women. Overall, the St. John Henry Newman Cardinals won the junior team points trophy for the first time since 2014.
Cathedral came second.
"It's a bit of an advantage for us playing at home," Cathedral coach Jay Stokl admitted. "It's nice having support for our players.
"Our team is very big (in numbers). And when they come to see their players playing in the championship they do their best to support them."
Tournament announcer Anne Howell reminded spectators in the overhead stands not to cheer during rallies and that negative comments would not be allowed.
Bishop Ryan Celtics coach Angela Smarkala said Vlasic is a self confident and strategic player who can strategize three moves in advance.
"He knows how to play the sport really well," she said. "He's got good stamina, too."
Vlasic said his background at a tennis academy in Hamilton proved beneficial on the badminton court.
"I played some tournaments," he said. "I'm a big tennis guy. It helped because it's a racquet sport."
Third place in men's singles went to Liam Steele of Newman, while Jonith Joseph of Bishop Ryan came fourth.
The men's doubles title was won by Bishop Ryan's Ali Ahmed and Hermo Samael, who got past Newman's Isaac Miller and Jacob Sorgini in the final.
"They are synchronized on how to play," Smarkala said of the BR Grade 10 duo.
Third-place in men's doubles went to Lincoln Ganesaratnam and Hayden Cornelson of the ACMT Jaguars, while Cathedral's Angelo Jeremiah and Josh Ramos of Cathedral ended up fourth.
First day winners were: Grace Fleming, Newman, women's singles; Cole Fursman and Izzy Rowan, Newman, mixed doubles; Lana Chiu and Mara Craciun, Bishop Tonnos, women's doubles.
Photos by R.F. (Bob) Butrym, RFB Sport Photography
More photos on HWCDSB Athletics Facebook page
