Badminton club opens season

The Fort Frances Badminton Club got its competitive season underway with four players competing at the Winnipeg City Jr. Open Badminton Championships over the weekend—with all four making at least the semi-finals.
“It was great. Our players did very well and played lots of games,” noted club coach Manami Alexander, who added all four players played at least 10 matches during the tournament.
“This was a really busy weekend,” she laughed.
In singles play, 13-year-old Kimika Alexander reached the semi-finals of the ‘A’ bracket before falling to Jessica Schmidtke of Winnipeg’s Wildewood Club in straight sets (21-11 and 21-5).
Ten-year-old Anika Alexander captured first place in the singles ‘B’ bracket.
Alexa Lesperance, 13, fell in the ‘C’ bracket semi-finals to Tai Dankochik of Gimli, Man. in three sets.
However, Sarah Bagacki, 11, claimed the top spot by defeating Dankochik in another three sets.
In doubles play, Lesperance teamed up with Kimika Alexander and made the semi-finals in the ‘A’ bracket, falling to Schmidtke, paired with Melissa Liew, by identical 21-5 scores.
Bagacki and Anika Alexander also competed in doubles play, losing in the ‘C’ bracket final to Alexa McAdam and Sara Houston. The local duo won the first set 21-16, but narrowly fell 22-20 and 21-19 in the next two.
In other action, the local girls paired up with Manitoba boys for a shot at mixed doubles in the tournament, with Kimika Alexander and Ethan Rohl of the Wildewood Club losing in the semi-finals of the main bracket.
Anika Alexander and Parker Nebb of the Wildewood Club lost in the ‘B’ final while Lesperance and Tevin Wong of Thompson, Man. fell in the ‘C’ final.
Coach Alexander was impressed that her small group saw no early exits at the tournament.
“Just amazing,” she remarked. “All of them pushed their limit and played well, got to play at a higher level than they play at home, didn’t get very intimidated by strong players in Winnipeg.
“Everyone just kept improving throughout the tournament,” she added. “I think they did way more than I expected.”
The club won’t be back in Winnipeg until their next tournament in April, although the team will return soon after for the 2008 U14/U16 national junior championships, which will be held in Winnipeg from May 19-24.
For now, they’re gearing up for their next tournament—the Fort Frances Invitational, which they’ll be hosting March 28-30. It’s a long ways off, but since they’ll be holding court, there’s plenty to prepare for—not to mention the desire to succeed at home.
“That’s our biggest event of the year,” Alexander said.
The invitational will host about 100 badminton players hailing from locales like Thunder Bay, Marathon, Winnipeg, and Thompson, not to mention closer towns like Kenora, Dryden, and Sioux Lookout.