ACAC at CCAA Badminton National Championship
by ACAC Sports Writer Curtis J. Phillips
"It was a good year for Alberta in badminton I guess," said Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder badminton coach Kevin MacAlpine.
How about...fantastic Kevin?
At the conclusion of the 2017-2018 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Badminton Championships, which concluded Saturday in Edmonton, Alberta, the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) has smashed their way to an impressive four gold medals.
Below are thumbnail sketches of the golden performances.
Men's Singles: Desmond Wang, Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder, Gold
Desmond Wang defeated George Brown College Huskies' Yuge Zeng 21-14 and 21-14.
"He impressed me all weekend," said MacAlpine, of the first-year student/athlete (Bachelor of Science). "Singles is not necessarily his favourite event as he likes mixed and men's doubles but we did what we thought was best for the ACAC team.
"He had some good matches and was able to medal. He came out and played the best badminton that he could. His stamina and fitness was stronger than that of some of the other athletes."
Vancouver Island University's Graydon Robb captured bronze, making this his fifth consecutive CCAA championships to medal.
Women's Singles: Takeisha Wang, Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder, Gold
Playing on her home court, the first-ever CCAA national championship sports event of any kind to be hosted at Concordia, Takeisha Wang's consistent play led to a gold medal after retiring George Brown College Huskies' Ann Hoag in the second set due to injury.
This is Wang's third CCAA medal in consecutive years, with silver last year in women's singles and a bronze in women's doubles in 2015-2016 with Rachael Smilie .
"It's a cool thing to see brother and sister (Desmond is her younger brother) both win singles titles in the same year," said MacAlpine. "She had a little extra nerves in some of her games as she was playing at home. But overall, she did not give up many points in the tournament."
Mixed Doubles: Jeffrey Ko and Eyota Kwan, NAIT Ooks, Gold
NAIT Ooks' Jeffrey Ko and Eyota Kwan started the ACAC gold medal rush Saturday with a 21-13, 21-8 defeat of Humber College Hawks' Arpit Taneja and Crystal Qu.
This is Ko's third CCAA medal as two years ago he teamed up with Nick Roque to win bronze in men's doubles. Last year at Seneca College, it was a bronze with Roseanna Chan in mixed doubles.
"I was hoping for these results," said Ooks' coach Sinead Cheah. "They are definitely a strong pair. The top two.
"Jeff is a very technical player and a asset to the team."
Men's Doubles: Nick Roque and Imran Wadia, NAIT Ooks, Gold
Prior to the 2017-2018 CCAA men's doubles badminton finale, NAIT Ooks' Nick Roque and Imran Wadia had been to the CCAA podium a combined three times, but never for gold.
Roque had won silver last year 2016-2017 with team mate Kaili Huang in mixed doubles while in 2015-2016 it was CCAA bronze in men's doubles with Jeff Ko.
Meanwhile, Wadia was a silver winner last season with Any Ko in men's doubles.
This time around, it would be gold all the way as they defeated Humber College Hawks' Cameron Lai and Darcy Schmidt 21-16, 17-21 and 21-12.
"They have so much good chemistry on the court," said Cheah. "Their style is similar and it showed."
Eric Kern and Ethan Zhao (Georgian College) earned national bronze over NAIT's Luc-Ly Nguyen and Tyler Walsh 21-11, 15-21, 21-12.
In women's doubles, Ooks' Caitlyn New and Kaitlyn Wilbee earned a 4th place finish, falling to George Brown College Huskies' Angeline Alviar and Yunji Kim 19-21 and 18-21.
Thunders' Nicolas Pittman won the CCAA Fair Play Award and the ACAC the Team Supremacy Award for most points.
Ooks' Cheah and Wadia were named CCAA Badminton Coach of the Year and Male Badminton Player of the Year respectively.
Takeisha Wang was honoured as Female Badminton Player of the Year.
"It was a great event with a decent turnout," said MacAlpine. "It is nice to see (ACAC) back on the podium."
"The last few years (at CCAA) we fell short but there is no question that we are always a competitive conference," concluded Cheah.
A total of 13 different schools were representing the ACAC, Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association, Ontario Colleges Athletic Association and Pacific Western Athletic Association.