Badminton Exhibition

Fort Frances High School hosted an exhibition badminton tournament last Thursday, inviting schools from Atikokan, Ignace, Sioux Lookout, and Pelican Falls.
Both junior and senior teams brought singles, doubles, and mixed doubles to try their first tournament for the season before the NorWOSSA qualifier tomorrow (April 6) in Atikokan.
Most of the Muskie players competed strongly at this tournament and showed the sign of possibly advancing to next level at the NorWOSSA championship following the qualifier.
Tim Desjardins and John McCormack came back to the singles event and were undefeated in all nine of their matches.
Natalie Desjardin, a two-time OFSAA doubles player, switched to the singles event this year on the senior team and showed off her experienced play on the court to win both of her matches.
Akira Kikkawa, an exchange student from Japan, tried out in the senior boys’ singles event and swept the nine-player round robin chart to capture top spot.
Cole Derkson and Steven Boileau, the first-time senior doubles team, lost their first match but then won their next seven.
The other Muskies who competed here last week were the junior boys’ doubles teams (Herbert/Sande, Johnson/Stromness, and Morriseau/Jolicoeur), junior mixed doubles team (McCoy/Bragg), senior girls’ doubles team (Shine/Mesdag), and senior mixed doubles team (Cournoyer/Herbert).
The top three teams in each division at tomorrow’s qualifier in Atikokan will advance to the NorWOSSA championship slated for April 12 in Dryden.
“Each of the Muskie players played hard and well today [March 30],” said Muskie badminton coach Manami Alexander. “They all wanted to see at this exhibition tournament what kind of teams the other schools bring this season, so they can make a plan for the practice before the qualifier [April 6].
“Each team came in a hurry to report the result to me and they were very excited that most of the games were actually easier than they thought.
“As the day went and more games were played, the Muskies sure looked stronger on the court,” Alexander added. “Most of them can’t wait to compete at a higher level of competition following the qualifier.”