Irvington frosh/soph badminton tournament marks beginning of season
On Saturday morning, freshmen and sophomore badminton players from all over the East Bay gathered in Irvington High School’s gym to have fun and win. The tournament was run by Coach Steve Strout and Assistant Coach Anne Chung, primarily as a fundraiser and a way to kick off the 2010 season.
Although the tournament was almost completely dominated by Mission San Jose, sophomores Bryan Ying and Gus Liu were able to place 3rd in Boys Doubles, despite Gus just having recovered from a twisted ankle. They were able to beat two of Mission San Jose’s teams before losing in the semi-finals. Brian also placed 4th in Boys Singles, losing only narrowly to Mission San Jose’s Binjih Lin before the final.
In contrast with all other racket sports such as tennis, badminton is co-ed, with three main divisions: Singles, Doubles, and Mixed Doubles. All games are played up to 21 points, out of three games. In typical singles matches, players can easily run two miles or more, depending on the intensity of play.
Season matches will begin this coming week, with the Vikings facing Washington on Tuesday and Newark Memorial on Thursday. The Newark Memorial frosh/soph tournament will be held next Saturday and generally has a much larger turnout of players.
