Kirk Hansen and Adam Chan of the Varsity Blues badminton team posted top results at the 2010 Black Knight Toronto junior elite series, November 5-7.

Hansen finished second in the under-19 doubles category and advanced to the round of 16 in singles play – the best result of any Blues badminton player at a national circuit event since 2003.

Hansen and partner Andrew Wilkinson met the number one player in Canada Nyl Yakura and his partner Nathan Choi in the final. Hansen and Wilkinson fought well in the first game but were no match for the No. 1 seeds varied pace, excellent service and powerful smashing losing 21-12. In the second game Wilkinson and Hansen stayed even with their opponents for the first half of the match trailing 11-8 at the midpoint interval. However, in the second half of the game, the more experienced Yakura and Choi pulled away to win 21-13.

Hansen and Wilkinson defeated Andrew Harrison and Derek Leung in the first round, before coming away with a close 26-24, 21-16 victory over Sam Dunner and Jerry Zhang in the second round. The duo also defeated Josh Hurlburt-Yu and Jackie Yeung 24-22, 21-12 in the semifinals.

In singles action, Hansen defeated Quebec’s Maxime Marin 21-12, 21-14, but fell to training partner Corey Hum 21-17, 21-17 in the second round.

Adam Chan faced the top-ranked under-19 singles player in Félix Deblois-Beaucage in the first round and played very well but lost 21-12, 21-8 . Chan tried to play a fast paced game but made several unforced errors against the more powerful Quebec player.