The University of Toronto Varsity Blues badminton team fell 10-3 to the undefeated Western Mustangs on Saturday, November 8 at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.
Jesse Assing (Bethany, Ont.) led the way for the Blues, defeating a highly favoured Tyler Brent (Toronto) in men’s singles action. Brent got off to an 11-4 lead, but Assing adapted his game plan and forced his opponent into longer rallies with occasional attacks, narrowly falling 21-19. Building on that momentum, Assing began to overpower Brent and won the second game 21-16. In the third game, Assing completely dominated the first half pulling away to an 11-7 lead at the break, and coasted to the win 21-15.
In other men’s singles action, Andy Lam (Toronto) fell to Peter Butler (Toronto), who just returned from the World Youth Championship in India, 21-14, 21-14 and aymond Zhang (Toronto) dropped his match 21-14, 21-12 in the number three men’s singles spot.
In women’s singles action, team captain Shilin Cheung (Hong Kong) replaced injured number one Melissa Hill (Oakville, Ont.) and stepped up to play a very strong match against four-time OUA MVP Jennifer Lam (Toronto). Cheung fell behind Lam 11-4 in the first game but slowly accumulated points to lose 21-13. Cheung came out on fire in the second game, jumping to an 11-10 lead, however, the more experience Lam lifted her game and powered her way to a 21-14 win. Sitting in the Blues number one spot, Cheung scored more points against Lam than anyone else in the OUA this season.
In the other singles matches, although Toronto played well, they were no match for the Mustangs veterans as Josee Matte (Brantford, Ont.) lost 21-13, 21-14 in number two women’s singles and Shirley Lin (Sudbury, Ont.) lost 21-12, 21-6 in the number three spot.
The Blues dropped both of their men’s doubles matches against the Mustangs. Warren Leung (Windsor, Ont.) and Assing started out very strongly in the first game leading 11- 8 at the break, but too many unforced errors led to a 21-18 loss. The Blues were more tentative in the second game and their lack of aggression resulted in a 21-17 loss.
Graeme MacInnes (Ajax, Ont.) and Zhang were no match against highly ranked rookie Ross Golding (Toronto) and veteran Scott Bennington (Oshawa, Ont.) in the number two spot, falling 21-17, 21-9.
Shilin Cheung and Caroline Cheung (Toronto) kept their perfect OUA season record intact as they dominated Caroline Chee (Calgary, Alta.) and Laura Vandervet (Brantford, Ont.) 21-11, 21-7 in women’s doubles action. The Toronto pair played aggressively, leading to prolonged rallies.
The number two women’s doubles was a good match as well as Lin Wang (Beijing) and Lin played a strong game against a much more experienced team and lost 21-11, 21-7.
In mixed doubles, Western won the first two matches with Butler and Lam defeating Blues players Leung and Caroline Cheung 21-8, 21-13, while Lam and Matte lost 21-13, 21-13 in the number two spot.
In the final match of the day, Marta Madzelan (Mississauga, Ont.) and MacInnes played the skilled Western duo of Toshiro Sembo (Calgary, Alta.) and Laura Vandervet (Brantford, Ont.). Toronto lost the first game 21-14 but in the second, Madzelan started to dominate the net position, playing aggressively, while MacInnes played a very good supporting role to pull away with a 21-16 victory.
In the third and deciding game, the Toronto pair fought back and with a couple of lucky net rolls, won the third game as well to end the event on a high note.
Full Results
The Varsity Blues will play the Waterloo Warriors in OUA semi-final action on November 22 in Hamilton.
