For immediate release

October 26, 2010

Kwantlen Eagles badminton team takes second place honours

(METRO VANCOUVER, B.C.) The Kwantlen Polytechnic University badminton team finished second behind the Douglas College Royals in a very close race for match points at the first BCCAA tournament hosted at Capilano University on October 22 and 23.

The first day of competition featured a pair of upset wins for the Kwantlen Eagles. Mixed doubles pair Jensen Ly (Surrey) and Ashley Jang (Richmond) defeated the nationally ranked team from Douglas of Stephanie Ko/Darren Hong in a three set match (21-18, 12-21, 21-18). "It was a good win," said Jensen Ly, “Stephanie and Darren are nationally ranked, so we weren’t expected to win. We’re pretty happy with the result.” In the women’s singles matches, Gurdeep Basran (Surrey) followed up with an upset win over Jenny Aronson from Vancouver Island University in three sets (7-21, 21-12, 21-19).

On the second day of competition the Eagles didn’t have as much luck, enduring some tough losses. The mixed doubles teams of Jensen Ly/Ashley Jang and Willis Kwee/Michelle Simard placed second and third behind Douglas’s Ko/Hong. In women’s singles, Gurdeep Basran placed fourth. The men’s and women’s doubles teams of Simon Wu/Willis Kwee; Ashley Jang/Michelle Simard and Grace Whang/Charlette Rosales endured similar fates, placing third and fourth respectively.

However, all was not lost on the second day of competition as the Eagles managed to pull through with a cumulative score that challenged the Royals, who are the reigning national champions. Rookie Andrew Li (Richmond) earned himself the ‘underdog title.’ Entering the tournament as a relative unknown, Li was seeded 11th, and battled his way through four singles matches, three of which went to three games. Li finished the individual event in sixth place overall, and second in the B Pool draw.

The Eagles return to action in a BCCAA tournament hosted by Thompson Rivers University from November 13-14 in Kamloops.

Kwantlen’s varsity athletics teams are the Kwantlen Eagles. In basketball, soccer, badminton and golf, they compete in national intercollegiate leagues. For more information about the Kwantlen Eagles or view live webcast, visit kwantlen.ca/eagles or follow the Eagles on Twitter: KwantlenEagles

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For more information about this story or the Eagles Athletics Program, contact:
Elise Le Brun
Director, Athletics & Recreation
Tel: 604.599.2005
athletics@kwantlen.ca

OR

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Joanne Saunders
Director, Marketing & Communications
joanne.saunders@kwantlen.ca