The Badminton Team Takes on Tri-Cities!

 

Guangzhou (AISG) traveled to Shanghai to participate in the much-awaited Tri-Cities tournament. The schools participating came from Beijing and Shanghai, including Western Academy of Beijing (WAB), Shanghai American School Pudong (SASPD), and Shanghai American School Puxi (SASPX) as the invitational school. The tournament was hosted by SASPD and took place as a round-robin, followed by an elimination round, with the teams competing in various categories for the gold medal in both girls’ and boys’ singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.

 

Tri-Cities is regarded as one of the most significant events in the badminton season. The boys’ team captain, Auston, described the environment, The overall atmosphere was competitive but at the same time, it created a sense of community with our teams cheering each other on during games.”

 

The competition brought the team together while they competitively played in an intense two-day competition. Despite the competitive spirit among the schools, there was a lot of sportsmanship shown within the team and with the other schools. Caterina, the girl’s doubles player, shared, “The competition itself had a pretty exciting/friendly vibe,  many of us were able to make friends (who were our opponents on the court), and our team surely bonded more as we all cheered and comforted one another before/after games.”

 

Other members of the team, Chris and Jay described the positive atmosphere and how they got closer to the rest of the team. Chris said all the schools played with good sportsmanship and a positive attitude, making the competition more fun.

 

With various highlights of the event and all the players showing their exceptional skills, it was the mixed doubles 1 team (Chris and Amena) who captured the attention of many. Caterina recalls one of their games as she says, “I recall seeing an extremely well-played shot of theirs where they fought to reach the birdie at all different angles which truly inspired me to become a more resilient player.”

 

The other standout players were the girls’ doubles 1 team (Caterina and Sunny) and the boys’ singles 1 player (Alex) who all qualified in the finals. The players described their excitement and joy after winning the semi-finals as their efforts and hard work led to a rewarding result.

 

At the end of the tournament, it was the mixed doubles 1 team who finished with the gold medal in first place. To add, the girl’s double 1 team and boys’ singles 1 player finished second overall. The boys’ team also came home with the overall third-place trophy.

 

With spirits high after a successful and competitive tri-cities event, the boys’ team captain, Sunny, closed off with, “Tri-cities this year was a transformative experience for us all. We were able to better identify our strengths and weaknesses, but more importantly, enhanced our team spirit and forged new bonds with other renowned schools.” The girls’ team captain, Sunny, also shared her overall thoughts, “I think the whole tournament was successful, our whole badminton team improved a lot during the competition. All players gained precious experiences and became more familiar with each other.”

 

The varsity team brought back multiple medals. Despite where everyone finished, we applaud the entire team for their dedication and efforts during every intense match. The varsity badminton team will be looking forward to taking on the next tournament in Seoul, Korea for Super APAC in April.