Events

The 2015 Black Knight Ontario Junior Elite Series got off to a spectacular start today, with matches running from 9:00am to 8:00pm at Lee’s Badminton in Mississauga.

 

Almost all the top seeds in U17 Boys’ Singles made it through the first three rounds unscathed. Brian Yang, Desmond Wang, Kevin Luo, and Mathieu Morneau will be joined in the quarterfinals by unseeded competitors Kyle To, Sam Ma, Tihan Hewagama (who knocked out 5/8 seed Miklos Kanyasi in the third round), and Mark Dasios, who took out 3/4 seed Bryan Poon in a three game nail-biter that ended 24-22, 15-21, 21-13.

 

U17 Girls’ Singles also saw the top seeds proceed through the preliminary rounds without much of a hitch. As expected, Katie Ho-Shue will play in the quarter finals with fellow top seeds Natalie Lam, Alexandra Mocanu, Talia Ng, Sarah Gale, Clara De Belle, and Catherine Choi. Erin O’Donaghue is no longer participating in the tournament, which should give these athletes even greater hope of making it to the podium. Angela Chen, who was supposed to be O’Donaghue’s first match today, will now take her spot in the quarterfinals.

 

Tommy Yu and Sarah Gale had an exciting U17 Mixed Doubles quarterfinal match against Victor Chan and Shirley Yang that really went the distance. After a roller coaster first two games and a marathon third, Yu and Gale left the court with a 17-21, 21-16, 25-23 victory. The pair will not, unfortunately, be advancing to the semi finals; they were defeated by Bryan Poon and Clara De Belle in just two games. Poon and De Belle will be joined in the semis by Brian Yang and Katie Ho-Shue, Mathieu Morneau and Alexandra Mocanu, and Tihan Hewagama and Angela Chen.

 

Canada Winter Games gold medalist Jason Ho-Shue made quick work of his first two matches in U19 Boys’ Singles today, and will be advancing to the quarterfinals alongside fellow Games medalist Ty Lindeman. Top seeds Antonio Li, Byron Holcek, Clement Chow, Sean Mcowan, and Jonathan Lai will move ahead as well. Sankeeth Bagalur, who took out 5/8 seed Samuel Tessier in round two, is the only unseeded player advancing to the quarterfinals and will face number two seed Lindeman Saturday evening.

 

Takeisha Wang, Danica Lau, Serena Lam and Kylie Cheng used their momentum from the Games to catapult into the U19 Girls’ Singles quarterfinals. They will face off against top seeds Jenna Wong and Joanne Chen, and unseeded competitors Michelle Cheng (who took down 3/4 seed Sarah Cauchon in the second round) and Giselle Chan (who knocked out 5/8 seed Chloe Rowe).

 

In U19 Mixed Doubles, Takeisha Wang and Ty Lindeman breezed through the competition to secure a place in the semi finals. Jason Ho-Shue and Rachel Honderich defeated 5/8 seeds Xavier Laperrière and Alyson Ruan in just two games to earn their place in the semis. 5/8 seeds Jonathan Lai and Kylie Cheng beat out 3/4 seeds Antonin Bergeron and Sarah Cauchon to snag a semi final spot in a small upset. And finally, 3/4 seeds Austin Bauer and Julie Pham fought their way into a semi final spot to face the other top competitors.

 

Saturday’s matches begin at 9:00am. The day should be full of excitement as some of the best young athletes in the country go head to head to secure a place in Sunday’s finals.