One of my favorite games from 2010 and of course, I play just like the players there.
The last couple of months spelled another major lapse in my blogging record. However, with the close of the badminton season, I can finally say goodbye to my hectic schedule and continue blogging.
This season, I competed in Senior Boys Singles for Division Two and was once again paired with my rival, Logan. Unfortunately, despite all my efforts, I have to settle for silver again this year. Nonetheless the experience not only fun, it also provided some much needed strain on a under-worked body.
In Calgary, there are three divisions for badminton. Within each division there are around a dozen high schools that send one representative to compete in each category for each grade. As typical of all badminton competitions, the categories are strictly composed for boys singles, girls singles, boys doubles, girls doubles and mixed doubles. Doing some simple math, there are eight representatives for each grade and therefore twenty-four students on a full badminton team roster.
In a round robin tournament called the Divisional Tournament, the representative students from each school and within each division compete against each and are ranked. The top four students advance to the City Championships where they challenge players from other divisions. The top four players from each division play in a seeded elimination mini-tournament and then the top two players advance to the Zone Qualifier tournament held on the same day. In the zone qualifier tournament, another round robin is played out to determine the top two non-club students in the city and they play club players. (For those new to badminton, club players are trained by professionals and at exclusive facilities.)
This year, the Crescent Heights team did especially well, boasting excellent players coached by a very qualified team of dedicated badminton lovers. Stellar performances from Aberhart and Centennial are also worthy of note. Two exceptional players to observe in the Seniors category would be Crystal Lam and Dan Lac. The two are both very talented players and expected to advance in the provincials tournament.