The University of Toronto Varsity Blues badminton team are once again OUA champions, defeating the Waterloo Warriors 6-3 in the gold medal match on Sunday (Mar. 8) afternoon at the U of T Athletic Centre.

The win marks U of T's third consecutive OUA badminton championship, the 12^th banner in program history and the first under head coach Brian Tjoa.

"The feeling never changes," said third-year commerce student Jackie Dent. "Every year there's something different; the teams always change. It's great to come together as a team."

The Blues are Warriors were on a collision course to the finish line and fought-hard until the very end, with both teams bypassing the quarter-final after dominant performances to win their respective pools. Meanwhile both teams emerged victorious in the morning with U of T beating the York Lions 6-0 and Waterloo besting the Western Mustangs 6-1.

First-year commerce student Emma Meng set the tone for the Blue and White with a win in singles play. Waterloo responded with a win from Liam Zhang. From there, the Blues took control, winning three consecutive ties as the likes of Dent, Chloe Choi and Asher Bedi displayed why they were named OUA all-stars. With a 4-1 score in Toronto's favour, Waterloo kept fighting as the two sides traded chances. With the game on the line, the Blues duo of Clarence Chau and Nathan Mills kept rallying, laying everything they had on the before forcing a return out of bounds to defeat Raymond Li and James Kim to win the gold medal.

"It's a special feeling," said OUA Male Rookie of the Year Asher Bedi. "It's been great working with the team, everyone plays an important part."

Meng added additional hardware to U of T's accolades, being named the OUA Female Rookie of the Year. Brian Tjoa made his mark in his debut season on U of T's sidelines and was named OUA Coach of the Year. Five Varsity Blues were named OUA all-stars.

The Blues will now turn their attention to the Canadian University Championships on Mar. 19-21 in Montreal.

FINAL STANDINGS:
Gold: Toronto
Silver: Waterloo
Bronze: Western
4^th: York
5^th: McMaster
6^th: Ottawa
7^th: Ontario Tech
8^th: TMU
9^th: Guelph

MAJOR AWARDS AND ALL-STARS
Male MVP - Joshua Nguyen (Ontario Tech)
Female MVP - Sophia Nong (York)
Male Rookie of the Year - Asher Bedi (Toronto)
Female Rookie of the Year - Emma Meng (Toronto)
Coach of the Year - Brian Tjoa (Toronto)

OUA ALL-STARS:

MALE:
Aiden Siow (TMU)
Andy Bai (Ottawa)
Asher Bedi (Toronto)
Clarence Chau (Toronto)
Jasper Tang (Western)
Joshua Nguyen (Ontario Tech)
Liam Zhang (Waterloo)
Michael Ji (Waterloo)

FEMALE:
Ashley Wong (Waterloo)
Chloe Choi (Toronto)
Chloe Hoang (Ontario Tech)
Chloe Wang (McMaster)
Emma Meng (Toronto)
Jackie Dent (Toronto)
Sophia Nong (York)
Tina Tian (Western)