Joey Payeur
A year without a badminton tournament gave the Fort Frances Badminton Club a year to reflect, reassess, and rejuvenate its efforts to resurrect its biggest event of the season.
This year, the club isn’t waiting until the last minute to attract entries to the tournament, which is slated to run April 7-9 at Fort High.
“We needed at least 50 people to sign up and we did not reach that last year,” noted club co-organizer Shari Bujold.
“That was the first year in quite a while that we didn’t have the tournament,” she added.
“The club kids were very disappointed.”
Along with putting the word out locally sooner this year, Bujold was on a recruiting mission at the Thunder Bay Open held March 3-4, which saw several area players take part.
“We really pushed it hard there,” said Bujold.
“We talked to players and coaches from the Thunder Bay schools to try to get some of their team members to come.”
Bujold noted the tournament is vital to the development of local players, especially the younger ones.
“It gives them the experience of playing other players besides the ones they see at the weekly evening sessions,” she explained.
“That experience is important so when they get to the high school level, they will be more confident.”
The tournament is open to beginner players right up to advanced level junior and adult players.
Junior divisions will be U19 and U16, with the age eligibility related to the players’ ages on Dec. 31, 2016.
The adult division, meanwhile, will feature ‘A,’ ‘B,’ and ‘C’ flights.
There will be singles, doubles, and mixed doubles events in both the adult and junior divisions.
Players may enter a maximum of one singles, one doubles, and one mixed doubles event.
Consolation rounds or three matches are guaranteed in all events, with birdies being provided.
Registration fees for adults are $50 for one event or $55 for two or three events while juniors will pay $45 for one event or $50 for two or three events.
Fees are due before each event starts.
The fee covers games, plus a lunch and dinner social on the Saturday and a light breakfast on the Sunday.
There also will be draw prizes for tournament participants.
The entry deadline is March 31, with entry forms available by e-mailing Bujold at slbujold@gmail.com
No phone entries will be accepted.
As for the Thunder Bay Open, second-seeded Aaron Bujold (Fort Frances) and Hailey Arpin (Rainy River) teamed up to capture the adult ‘A’ division in mixed doubles by rallying for a 2-1 win (19-21, 21-13, and 21-14) over fourth-ranked Thai Tran and Rachael Nguyen.
Bujold also teamed with former Muskie NorWOSSA and NWOSSAA champ Taylor Whitehead, now living in Regina, to place second in men’s doubles.
The second seeds made it to the final before losing 2-0 to third-ranked Les Gamble and Dave Janhunen (22-20/21-16).
Whitehead was tops in men’s singles, sweeping Yaman Malhi 2-0 (21-15/21-11) in the final.
Meanwhile, the local duo of Tayah Badiuk and Lauryn Marchant battled their way to third place in the U19 girls’ doubles.
Seeded second entering the tournament, the pair won its quarter-final match but then lost in a three-game semi-final.
Waiting in the Special Plate (third place) final was another team that was upset in the semi-finals: top-ranked Sarah Cullinan and Rory Smith.
But Badiuk and Marchant didn’t flinch, sweeping the latter pair 2-0 (21-1/21-11).
Badiuk and Dakota Jernberg, in his first career tournament, made it to the quarter-finals in the U19 mixed doubles event before being eliminated.
But the pair steadied themselves and in the six-team plate (‘B’) event, they emerged victorious with three-straight wins–the last being a 15-7/15-6 triumph over Bradley Little and Michelle Cao.
Jernberg lost his first-round match in U19 boys’ singles play, then won his initial plate event clash before losing his second one to Jinwoo Cheon 2-0 (15-13/15-11).
