Lucas Punkari
It was a busy few days for local badminton players last week.
Members of the Muskie contingent took part in an exhibition tournament at Fort High last Thursday before the Fort Frances Badminton Club hosted its annual invitational tournament there from Friday to Sunday.
While entries were down compared to recent years, club head coach Manami Alexander said the tournament was considered a success.
“Over the last few years, we’ve struggled to try and get through all of the games within the time slot that we have each day,” she explained.
“So with less entries this year, it was a very nice size to manage things around.
“But we still had players from Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Kenora, and other areas that came to Fort Frances to be a part of the weekend,” she added.
The host club fared quite well at their home tournament, with 14-year-old Anika Alexander capturing the boys’ U19 singles category over fellow club member Robert Stevens.
Locals Louis Bujold and Greg Stahn took home the gold in the men’s ‘B’ doubles tournament while Kimika Alexander teamed up with Stevens to win the U19 category in mixed doubles.
Caleigh Payne, meanwhile, took home the trophy in the U13/U16 mixed doubles event paired with Tyler Neil of Kenora.
“I thought all of the junior players played really well, and got to move up a few levels through their results,” said Alexander, citing the performances of Aaron Bujold, 4Chase Badiuk, and Caleigh Payne in particular.
Last Thursday’s high school exhibition tournament also went well for local players as the Muskies captured the top spot in three divisions.
In senior boys’ doubles action, Stevens and Spencer Pearce finished tied for first with a team from Atikokan.
In the junior girls’ doubles event, the black-and-gold tandem of Tori Sikora and Erin Gustafson finished in a three-way tie for top spot with a pair of Atikokan duos.
Rory Bagaki had the other first place showing for Fort High, going a perfect 5-0 en route to capturing the senior boys’ singles title.
“Along with them, I was impressed with the performances of Ryan Brady [senior boys’ singles] and the senior mixed team of Sam Stahn and Andre Emond,” said Alexander, who also coaches the Muskie contingent.
“That was Ryan’s first high school tournament and even though he only won one game, he was close in a couple of other matches,” she noted.
“Also, Sam and Andre had never played together before, but they did well together and ended up finishing in second spot.”
The next event for the Muskies will be the NorWOSSA qualifier next Wednesday (April 6) in Atikokan.
Local club players will have to wait until April 15-17 to return to action at the Manitoba Jr. Open.
