Joey Payeur
Aaron Bujold wouldn’t mind a little respect—not so much for him but the entire sport of badminton.
The Grade 10 member of the Muskie contingent repeated his result from a year ago—capturing the silver medal in senior boys’ singles play at the NWOSSAA championships last Wednesday in Dryden.
Bujold went 4-1 in the round-robin event behind Grade 12 veteran Yamhi Malhi of the Churchill Bulldogs (Thunder Bay), who retained his NWOSSAA title with a 5-0 mark.
Both players earned the right to play once again at the OFSAA championships May 5-7 in North Bay.
Unlike other Muskie sports like hockey, volleyball and soccer (the latter one another favourite of Bujold’s), there’s a significantly different level of celebration energy-wise from those team sports compared to badminton.
As the lone Muskie rep in Dryden, it was just Bujold and coach Brian Church on hand for what was a far lower-key occasion—devoid of any jumping up and down and hugging that accompanies all-Ontario qualifications in those other sports.
But Bujold made a point of emphasizing lower-key does not mean lower-level of athletic endeavour.
“People think badminton’s easy,” he remarked. “But when you get to this high of a level, it gets intense.
“Some people recognize that high level,” Bujold noted.
“[But] others don’t think it’s much of a sport and [they] just stand around and laugh as you play.”
The reigning two-time NorWOSSA gold medalist made it clear early on last Wednesday that he wasn’t playing around—crushing NorWOSSA silver-medalist Grant Legaree from Atikokan 2-0 (21-11/21-9).
“The first match of the day, Aaron was a little cold, like everyone else there,” noted Church.
“He was not hitting shots the way he would like early on. But as the game went on, he got into a rhythm.
“You’ve got to get used to the gym, too, which gives you a different perspective,” Church added.
“The first game on that tiled floor, it was tough for Aaron to get his grip.”
Bujold got a stiffer test in his second match against Rohan Rakshit (Churchill) but again claimed a 2-0 victory (21-13/22-20).
“Rakshit started to push it more in the second game and was pushing his shots to the corners more,” noted Church.
“The first game, though, Aaron had him all over the court.”
That set up what would be the de facto gold-medal match between Bujold and Malhi, who not only have squared off several times in club tournaments, but also are good friends off the court.
The Muskie made Malhi reach deep into his arsenal of shots before the he prevailed 2-0 (21-16/21-19).
“I played good against him but could have played better,” Bujold admitted.
“It comes down to you miss a few shots against him and he’s right back in it.
“The second game, I had him, then I hit two shots out and he was right back in it,” he reiterated.
“It was close but it was a good experience for me.”
“It was not an instant replay of last year,” noted Church.
“Aaron knows Malhi is his biggest challenge and that turned out to be the case.”
Bujold also knew any extended hanging of his head after the loss might take him out of the OFSAA mix altogether.
As such, he took no prisoners in his final two must-win matches.
Bujold first rolled past Dawson Grouette-McDougall (Marathon Falcons) by scores of 21-10, 21-11, then earned 21-8 and 21-13 wins to sweep Jessy Deschamplain of the E.S. L’Oree des Bois’ Ouragans (Dubreuilville).
“Those two matches went pretty straightforward,” said Church, who added he’s not shocked anymore about what Bujold is accomplishing despite playing a division higher than his grade category.
“He’s got the reputation in the district as the guy to beat,” his coach lauded.
“When you get to NWOSSAA, that’s the best you’re going to face before OFSAA and he still impressed at that level.”
Bujold missed the playoffs on the consolation side of the ‘C’ flight at last year’s all-Ontarios—putting up an overall record of 2-4 in his first go-round there.
He returns this year wiser and hungrier.
“Last year was a learning and building opportunity,” he reasoned. “I won two [matches] last year and I hope to improve on that.
“I just have to play my game and see where it takes me.
“Once you get to OFSAA, it doesn’t matter if you’re in the ‘A’ flight, ‘B,’ or ‘C,’” Bujold added.
“They’re all hard levels, but I want to try to get into the medal round and get out of my pool.”
Church anticipated a better showing from the young prodigy.
“He’s performed well in tournaments in Winnipeg and Thunder Bay against adults,” he noted.
“Having that experience at being at OFSAA once before will help him calm his nerves to a certain extent, although Aaron’s not one to show his nerves if he’s got them,” Church added.
“Having that experience changes the way you play.”
Bujold, meanwhile, has long-term goals of changing the way badminton is viewed in the halls of Fort High.
“Those that don’t think much of the sport should try it,” he urged.
“Maybe it’s a matter of setting up a few nets at lunchtime in February, and getting people to come out and try it and build from that.”
