Events

Day 2 of the 2015 Black Knight Ontario Junior Elite series was full of surprises.

 

Tihan Hewagama, a real dark horse in this tournament, secured himself a spot in the U17 Boys’ Singles gold medal match. After defeating 5/8 seed Miklos Kanyasi on Day 1, Hewagama made quick work of number two seed Mathieu Morneau, winning 21-19, 21-13. He will face the tournament’s number one seed Brian Yang in Sunday’s finals.

 

In U17 Girls’ Singles, top seed Katie Ho-Shue continued her steady climb to the finals. She has been playing consistently good badminton throughout the tournament, and by defeating 5/8 seed Talia Ng in just two games, Ho-Shue cemented her spot in the gold medal match. 3/4 seed Cara De Belle will be her opponent, thanks to a well-fought victory over Catherine Choi that ended 18-21, 21-12, 21-19 in De Belle’s favour.

 

Brian Yang will also be in the gold medal match in U17 Boys’ Doubles with his partner Desmond Wang. As the top seeds in this category, they found little friction in the tournament thus far, but will have to square off against the equally capable number two seeds Mathieu Morneau and Nicolas Nguyen to snag the gold.

 

After a tense three-game match that went 21-12, 16-21, 21-18, unseeded U17 Girls’ Doubles partners Sharon Au and Crystal Lai will advance to the finals in their category. Number two seeds Katie Ho-Shue and Vania Wu earned a spot in that match as well, after handily defeating Catherine Choi and Talia Ng 21-19, 21-15 in the semi finals.

 

Mixed doubles presents an opportunity for both Katie Ho-Shue and Brian Ng to score a triple crown in this tournament. The duo won their U17 Mixed Doubles match against 3/4 seeds Mathieu Morneau and Alexandra Mocanu 21-9, 21-11. Second seeds Bryan Poon and Cara De Belle will face them in the fight for gold, after winning an equally decisive two-game semi final match against Tihan Hewagama and Angela Chen.

 

In U19 Boys’ Singles, another dark horse has taken the lead. Sankeeth Bagalur, who made waves when he defeated number two seed Ty Lindeman in the quarter finals, made quick work of 5/8 seed Sean Mcgowan by defeating him 21-10, 21-10 on Saturday. Bagalur will square off against tournament favourite and number one seed Jason Ho-Shue. It should prove for a very interesting match.

 

Joanne Chen, the 5/8 seed in U19 Girls’ Singles, defeated number two seed Kylie Cheng in a heated match that went 26-24, 21-18 before winning a three-game match against Giselle Chen to secure herself a place in Sunday’s gold medal match. Number one seed Takeisha Wang will face Chen in what is sure to be a positively electric Girls Singles final.

 

U19 Boys’ Doubles turned out as expected; top seed Jason Ho-Shue and Jonathan Lai advanced as steadily toward the gold medal match as Ty Lindeman and Austin Bauer. After a week spent competing against Ho-Shue at the Canada Winter Games, Lindeman and Bauer should have a good idea of how to challenge the top seeds and make for an interesting fight for gold.

 

After dominating top seeds Joanne Chen and Takeisha Wang in a 21-13, 21-15 quarter final match, Rachel Honderich and Danica Lau scored a close 21-18, 23-21 victory over Sarah Cauchon and Alyson Ruan to snag a place in the U19 Girls’ Doubles finals. Their opponents will be number two seeds Giselle Chan and Chloe Rowe, who defeated Camille Leblanc and Alexandra Mocanu 21-18, 21-18 in the semi finals.

 

The U19 Mixed Doubles finals will pit number one seeds Ty Lindeman and Takeisha Wang against number two seeds Jason Ho-Shue and Rachel Honderich. Both duos already faced each other in the Canada Winter Games last week, so it should be an interesting fight for gold there. Ho-Shue, like his sister Katie and her doubles partner Brian Yang, also stands to win a triple crown at this tournament.