Centre Dufferin athletes compete at District 4 badminton championships

By Brian Lockhart

Centre Dufferin District High School Royals athletes competed at the District 4 badminton championships on Wednesday, April 8.

The junior championships were held at Erin District High School, while the senior championships were held in Shelburne at CDDHS.

Events got underway at 9:00 a.m. and ran all day. The initial round-robin competition determined who would go to the final matches and qualify for regional competition at CWOSSA.

The top two finalists in each division advanced to regional competition.

The competition featured single boys and girls, doubles, and mixed doubles teams.

The play was fast and very competitive. The final medal rounds were especially spirited and well-matched as players fought to secure a good spot in the CWOSSA standings.

Six schools were in the tournament, including Centre Dufferin, Westside Secondary School from Orangeville, Emmanuel Christian High School from Fergus, Erin District High School, Norwell District Secondary School, and Centre Wellington from Mount Forest.

Royals' senior mixed doubles team, Nick Gibson and Abi Wilson, won silver.

Centre Dufferin senior doubles team Téa Bosiljevac and Ashley Valade won gold in their division.

Junior player Musa Taufiq also qualified.

All five players will go to the regional level to compete at CWOSSA.

“We had three round-robin matches, one quarter-final, one semi-final, and final match. The competition was really good, especially approaching the quarter finals,” said Téa Bosiljevac after her winning match. “I think we thought we would win by way more than we did, but I think the competition was really good, compared to last year.”

Ashley Valade agreed there was a lot of good competition this year.

“Today's competition was really good,” Ashley said. “Last year we were just starting out. This year, we knew what we were doing. It was so much more competitive. Last year was our first year playing badminton.”

Ashley and Téa also play on the school's basketball and volleyball teams together, so they figured they had good chemistry and could play doubles in badminton.

“This is the district tournament to see who goes on to CWOSSA,” said Centre Dufferin coach and senior tournament organizer Patrick Clendinning, during the championships on April 8. “There are six schools competing here today. Both winners who compete in the final matches will go on to CWOSSA. The difference is, whoever wins will go on to be the number one seed. We have single girls, single boys, double girls, double boys, and mixed doubles. Most teams sent around 12 players, so there's close to 50 players here today.”

Badminton is a sport that requires fast reflexes and good hand-eye coordination, and there is a lot of fast movement on the court.

The regional competition will feature the top players from the District competing against top players from other districts, making it highly competitive.

The CWOSSA competition will take place at Conestoga College in Kitchener, beginning with the Junior championships on Wednesday, April 15, followed by the Senior championships on Thursday, April 16.