Susie Aikenhead first picked up a badminton racket this season a couple of weeks before her first tournament. Many of her opponents at the all-Ontarios in Sudbury last week play the sport on a 12-month basis.
But that didn’t stop the 18-year-old Rainy River native from smashing her way to a 2-2 record at OFSAA–showing very well she could compete against the best high school badminton players the province has to offer.
“You’ve never seen players so amazing,” Aikenhead said of the talent level at the all-Ontarios.
Still, she admitted she wasn’t as much in awe of the talent in Sudbury as she was at her first all-Ontarios a year ago, in which she won just one game.
“The first time I was but this year was just another tournament,” she noted.
Rainy River Owl badminton coach Keith Ailey said Aikenhead is the type of player who competes on natural ability.
“She’s a very busy girl with her co-op and school, she’s an OAC student,” said Ailey, who made the trip to Sudbury. “She just doesn’t have the time to be dedicated to the sport but she has outstanding athletic ability.”
And despite the two losses, Aikenhead was pleased with her performance at the provincials, which saw her reach four games in the double-elimination tournament.
Aikenhead, who won NWOSSAA gold in Thunder Bay last month to earn her second straight trip to the all-Ontarios, won her first game by default. But she lost her second match in two straight sets to left-hander Isabelle Proulx (no scores were available).
“[Proulx] was really good, she had all of her shots,” said Aikenhead. “It looked like she’s played forever.”
Ailey said the fact Proulx was a lefty took away Aikenhead’s bread and butter shot–a deep shot to the right back corner of the court, which is normally her opponent’s backhand.
“She just couldn’t make that shot down the other line,” said Ailey.
But while Aikenhead lost to a tough opponent on the ‘A’ side to drop down to the ‘B’, she quickly regained her composure to win a tough match against Tabitha Robinson.
They split the first two games 15-9 (with Aikenhead taking the first one) before she reeled off a 15-3 win to advance against Jenn Lepere.
“Playing the [opponent] on their backhand is my game,” Aikenhead said as to how she was able to manhandle Robinson in the final game. “I tried to play on her backhand, send her deep, and then use the drop shot just over the net.”
Ailey said the fact Aikenhead is a “really smart player” helped her pick up the win.
“She picks a weakness on a player and preys on that,” he said. “She has good natural ability–she’s an overall good player.”
Aikenhead said she was able to effectively “pick corners” in the deciding game to force Robinson to chase the bird all over the court. She admitted it was her best series of points at OFSAA.
“It was a great game that third set,” said Ailey. “She really pulled it all together and really showed what she could do. When she’s on, she’s hitting the lines.”
But Aikenhead struggled in her final match, losing 15-1, 15-1 to Lepere. Like the score would indicate, this was one Aikenhead would like to forget.
“Her opponent was that good,” Ailey said of Lepere. “She did not make a single mistake and she really had no weaknesses.”
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
