South Central competitors made things interesting at the Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association regional badminton playoffs in Regina over the weekend, but ended up falling short of qualifying for provincials.
That’s not to say there wasn’t some success on the weekend for local players, with both singles competitors and the girls doubles team bringing home bronze medals from the event.
Cornerstone Christian School girls singles city champion Kiana Hrechka posted a 2-1 record in the round robin to finish second in her pool but would be unable to keep the roll going, falling 21-7, 21-13 to Regina Campbell’s Sophie O’Neill in the regional semifinal.
She rebounded nicely in the third-place game, though, emerging with the bronze medal from an absolute battle with Maple Creek’s Tealyn Whitefish and taking a 19-21, 21-18, 24-22 victory.
Vanier’s Feona Tolentino went 0-3 in her round-robin pool.
The situation was much the same for Briercrest Christian Academy’s Ike Wong, as after also going 2-1 in the round robin, he’d fall in two straight in the semifinal, dropping a 21-14, 21-11 decision to Regina Balfour’s Junhao Yuen.
Wong would then go to three sets in his bronze medal match before prevailing 21-15, 18-21, 21-10 over Fox Valley’s Kesler Hellman.
Central’s Nigel Fang was 1-2 and failed to advance out of his pool.
The Gravelbourg girls doubles team of Miyah Tucker-Bellaire and Sophie Simonson followed the same pattern as the singles competitors, going 2-1 in the round robin, falling in the semifinal and winning bronze.
They lost 21-18, 21-19 to Maple Creek’s Khali and Kahlen Delorme to drop to the third-place game, where the duo would win 21-16, 21-8 over Rosetown’s Hannah Weber and Ceanna Fischer.
Central Butte’s Fanny Beinecke and Eszter Szalacsi-Toth were 0-3.
The boys doubles division saw Briercrest Christian’s Cayden Tsoi and Bosco Yiu reach the semifinal before falling 21-19, 21-12 to Regina Campbell’s Daniel Xu and Jackson Lai. They then lost 21-10, 21-19 to Swift Current’s Hasit Desai and Harit Desai in the bronze medal game.
Lafleche’s Easton Lee and Jack Starke went winless in the same division.
The Rouleau mixed doubles team of Chase Faris and Cara Faris reached the semifinal and lost 21-16, 21-15 to Regina O’Neill’s Duane Sicat and Althea Pesquera before falling 21-19, 21-10 to Fox Valley’s Lexi Schneider and Domic Ehnisz.
Kincaid’s Matthew Thibault and Ava Sayers posted an 0-3 record.
Be sure to check out www.shsaa.ca for all the scores from the regional badminton championship.
