Incoming Varsity Blues badminton players Bethany So and Andrew Wilkinson helped Team Canada to win the 2011 Pan American Junior championships, July 27-31, in Kingston, Jamaica.

The duo was two of eight players that earned Canada’s first title in 10 years. So went 4-1 in singles action over the five team matches, while Wilkinson was a perfect 3-0 with partner Andrew Lau in doubles play.

In the individual competition, So reached the quarter-final round before losing a close battle to Brazil’s Luana Tamara Vicente 17-21, 21-8, 19-21. She also paired with Lau in mixed doubles action and reached the semifinals, where they fell to fellow Canadians Nyl Yakura and Adrienne Giuffre 21-11, 21-19.

Wilkinson went onto earn two silver medals in the individual competition. Paired with Jody Chan in the mixed doubles, the duo also fell prey to Yakura and Giuffe in the finals 18-21, 21-17, 16-21. In doubles action, Wilkinson and Lau went 3-1, falling to Brazil’s Yakura and Canada’s Clifton Wong 21-16, 17-21, 8-21 in the gold-medal match.

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