The Fort Frances Badminton Club held its ninth-annual Invitational Junior/Adult Tournament last weekend, welcoming a host of visitors to Fort Frances High School.
The tournament is the only one of its kind in Northwestern Ontario boasting both junior and senior play, with participants hailing everywhere from Stonewall, Man. to as far away east as Marathon, Ont.
“It was a big success,” said tournament organizer Manami Alexander, who also is head coach of the Muskie senior badminton team.
“Many people came back to the tournament from out of town and we saw some new people,” she added.
With more than 100 athletes taking part, the tournament was an opportunity for new players to get their feet wet with competition play. For others, it was the continuation of more than seven decades in the sport.
Alexander was excited by the diversity of the group, whose age ranged from eight years to more than 70. “Yes, we’ve got a man in his 70s; he’s very good and very experienced,” she noted.
“It’s been a fun weekend,” Alexander said following her own Sunday afternoon match. “People have been playing and visiting and enjoying themselves.”
Indeed, for many playing in the tournament, the social aspect of the sport may have been just as important as the competition. Many players could be found before and after their matches relaxing in the school cafeteria or on the sidelines of the gym taking in other ones.
There also was an evening social at the Little Beaver Snow Park.
Local players performing particularly well this year.
In singles play, Anika Alexander of Fort Frances beat out Serena Lam of Winnipeg’s Wildewood Club for top spot in the U10/U13 girls’ event while Sarah Bagacki of here finished in third place.
Also performing well in the event were Erin Gustafson (fourth place) and Taylor Shouldice (third place, ‘B’ side).
Bryan Liew of the Wildewood Club earned a first-place finish on the boys’ side while Taylor Whitehead and Ben Tysz, both of Fort Frances, finished in fourth place and fifth place, respectively.
In the U16 girls’ singles division, Lillian Lau of the Wildewood Club earned top honours over fellow club member Laura Goodwin. Jillian Berry of Fort Frances finished in fourth place.
The U16 boys’ event was split into two pools, with Fort Frances players taking top honours in each. When the pools faced off, it was Rory Bagacki defeating Ryan Shouldice for first place.
Tim Desjardins of Fort Frances took home a second-place showing in the U19 boys’ singles event, losing out to Marathon’s Owen Kurvits in the final.
Jamie Jensen finished in third place.
Six of the eight participants in the U19 girls’ event were from Fort Frances, but the other two dominated the competition.
Kao Fujimura (Kenora) and Hillary Hansen (Rainy River) met in the first round, then rolled through their respective sides. Fujimura claimed first place while Hansen won the consolation side.
Sherry Bujold of Fort Frances finished in second place.
The women’s singles title went to Melissa Liew, with Manami Alexander and Natalie Desjardins, both of Fort Frances, rounding out the top three.
Winnipeg players swept the three men’s singles pools as Ian Clara, James Brown, and Andrea Villafana all finished in top spot.
Greg Chan, of the University of Manitoba Badminton Club, took home the men’s 50+ singles title.
Doubles play kicked off Saturday afternoon with Anika Alexander and Erin Gustafson winning the U13 girls’ division over Sarah Bagacki and Celia Berry, all of Fort Frances.
The boys’ title went to Paul Berry and Bryan Liew of Winnipeg.
The U16 girls’ doubles division featured two local teams among the top three squads. Chelsea Carlson and Kimika Alexander earned the top spot over Lillian Lou and Misilyna Wu of Winnipeg.
Hannah Taylor and Jillian Berry claimed third place.
Fort Frances also was well-represented on the boys’ side as Rory Bagacki and Ryan Shouldice teamed up to defeat Jamie Brown (Winnipeg) and Robert Steven (F.F.) for the top finish.
The local team of Tim Desjardins and Jamie Jensen took first place in the U19 boys’ doubles event while Manami Alexander (F.F.) and Clarissa Koh (Winnipeg) captured the U19 Girls’/Womens’ ‘A’ doubles event.
Men’s ‘A’ doubles went to Benjamin and Owen Kurvits of Marathon while Donnie Gall and Guy Arpin of Rainy River claimed the Men’s ‘B’ crown.
Women’s ‘B’ doubles was won by Bev Arpin and Sandra Ottertail of Rainy River. Fort France teams rounded out the top three as Sherri Christiansen and Yue Lu took second place, with Nikki Bagacki and JoAnne Formarek Gustafson earning third.
Sunday belonged to the mixed doubles events. In the U10/U13 division, Paul Brown and Colleen Gillespie of Winnipeg finished in first place. with Ben Tysz and Taylor Shouldice of Fort Frances taking third.
The Erin Gustafson (F.F.) and Skylar Arpin (Rainy River) tandem took top spot in the U13 extra mixed doubles event. U16 mixed went to Lillian Lau and Justin Chan of Winnipeg.
Benjamin Kurvits (Marathon) and Kao Fuimura (Kenora) claimed the U19 mixed title over Kimika Alexander (F.F.) and Owen Kurvits (Marathon). Jillian Berry and Jamie Jensen, both of Fort Frances, took home third place.
In the general ‘A’ mixed division, Sena Lam and Ian Clara of Winnipeg finished in first place, followed by the duo of Natalie Desjardins (F.F.) and Kelly McGuire (Thunder Bay) finished in second.
The ‘B’ division went to James Brown (Winnipeg) and Yue Lu (F.F.)
< *c>Muskie badminton
In addition to finding success in the tournament, many high school players took part in the event as a precursor to their own badminton season, which runs this month.
“The high school players got to use this as an extra tournament before their qualifiers,” noted Alexander. “The high school badminton players have been busy preparing for their season tournaments.”
During the brief badminton season, the Muskies play in the East Division and took part in an exhibition tournament yesterday at Queen Elizabeth High School in Sioux Lookout.
That will be followed by a qualifying tournament here in Fort Frances next Wednesday (April 9) before the players head to Atikokan on April 16 for the NorWOSSAA tournament.
“The local badminton programs will run until May, and will end their season with a wind-up event at the end May,” said Alexander.
Junior players also will have the chance to extend their tournament experience as many will head off for Manitoba Junior Open on April 18-20 at the Wildewood Club.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
