Day 3 Recap:
National Champions Crowned in Badminton
Eight players can call themselves national champions following the 2024 CCAA Badminton National Championships at Seneca Polytechnic.
Women's Singles
Ritu Shah of the University of King's College Blue Devils successfully defended the Women's Singles national championship, defeating Jasleen Kaur of the Concordia Thunder 21-18, 21-15. Shah overcame a late deficit in the opening set to capture the momentum en route to victory. Moti Shams (Seneca) defeated Prarthana Deuba (Centennial) when Deuba was forced to retire in the second set 21-17, 19-17. Shams redeemed herself after falling in the bronze medal match in 2023.
Men's Singles
Thomas Ashton (University of King's College) waited a year for another shot at Colin Zhou (Centennial) and created a lasting memory, defeating the reigning national champion in three sets 21-18, 17-21, 21-19. Ashton had an answer for Zhou every time the Colts' star tried to gain the momentum in the match, delivery clutch shots throughout. Smit Patel (NAIT), the 2022 national champion, captured the bronze medal, defeating Eason Wong (SAIT) 21-14, 21-14.
Women's Doubles
Abby Ledda and Cecilia Wolski of the The King's University Eagles were the feel-good team of the championship. The two fifth-year players entered the gold medal match with memories of falling short in both 2022 and 2023 in the same spot. The Eagles tandem completed their post-secondary careers capturing the national championship, defeating Giselle Kochapanya and Monique Lee (George Brown) 21-17, 23-21. Anna Dugandzi and Anna Gillies (UKC) defeated Seneca's Hedieh Abbasbeiglou and Tanya Sharma in the bronze medal match 21-12, 21-19.
Men's Doubles
Jason Chiu and Pau Ouano of the SAIT Trojans continued to be the best Men's Doubles team in the championship, completing a 7-0 event with a hard-fought 21-15, 17-21, 21-17 win over Roshan Jacob and Arpi Sinha of Fanshawe. Eric Peng and Anthony Tso of the host Sting defeated Greg Friske and Anirudh Sharma (NAIT) in the bronze medal match. This is the third national medal for Tso, previously capturing a gold (2022) and bronze (2023) in men's doubles.
Mixed Doubles
Mahdi Ahmadi and Khushi Vaniya of The King's University hold the distinction of the first to be crowned badminton national champions in 2024, winning the opening match of the gold medal round. The Eagles team defeated Krishna Vaibhov and Sydney Arseneault of the UNB Saint-John Seawolves 21-18, 21-18. Davis Wong and Manasi Pandit (NAIT) captured the bronze medal with a 21-14, 21-15 win over Gokul Kumar and Zeel Rohit of Humber.
Seneca's Anthony Tso received the Eileen Harle Exemplary Leadership Award voted by the awards committee (head official, convenor and CCAA representative). Tso's friendly smile, positive attitude and sportsmanship throughout made the third year player an easy choice for the committee.
ACAC 1 captured the Team Supremacy Award which goes to the top conference team based on the round robin results. The top ACAC team topped the standings in three disciplines and consisted of Jasleen Kaur (Concordia), Eason Wong (SAIT), Abby Ledda and Cecilia Wolski (The King's University), Jason Chiu and Paul Ouano (SAIT) and Mahdi Ahmadi and Khushi Vaniya (The King's University).
Day 2 Recap:
Medal Matches Set at CCAA Championships
The five gold medal matches are set at the CCAA Badminton National Championships with both Women's Singles (Ritu Shah) and Men's Singles (Colin Zhou) looking to successfully defend their national championships.
Women's Singles
Ritu Shah of the University of King's College Blue Devils is one match away from successfully defending the national championship. Shah advanced to the gold medal match following a 21-3, 21-12 win over Seneca's Moti Shams. Shah will take on Jasleen Kaur of Concordia, the 2023 national bronze medalist in mixed doubles (Jonathan Su). Kaur advanced to the final with a 21-12, 21-12 win over Centennial's Prarthana Deuba. Kaur has been the only one to score more than 13 points against Shah, doing so twice in the round robin in a three-set thriller. Shams and Deuba will meet for the bronze medal.
Men's Singles
Colin Zhou of the Centennial Colts will look to repeat as Men's Singles champion following a 21-12, 21-9 win over Eason Wong (SAIT) in the semi-final. Zhou continued to cruise through the competition on day two and will meet the University of King's College's Thomas Ashton in a rematch of the 2023 gold medal match. Ashton defeated Smit Patel of NAIT, the 2022 CCAA Men's Singles national champion, in straight sets 21-14, 21-11 to set up the rematch. Zhou took round robin match 21-11, 21-11.
Women's Doubles
Abby Ledda and Cecilia Wolski of the The King's University Eagles will look to complete a storybook ending after defeating Anna Dugandzic and Anna Gillies (University of King's College) 21-17, 21-13 in the semi-final. The Eagles tandem is looking to avenge losses in each of the past two national championship gold medal matches, sporting a 6-0 record going into the final match. On the opposite side of the net will be the OCAA Champions Giselle Kochapanya and Monique Lee from George Brown, who advanced with a 22-20, 21-17 win over the host Seneca Sting (Hedeih Abbasbeiglou and Tanya Sharma). Kochapanya and Lee avenged a round robin loss to Seneca, previously falling in three sets.
Men's Doubles
Jason Chiu and Pau Ouano of the SAIT Trojans maintained an unblemished record on day two to punch their spot in the gold medal match. The Trojans defeated Seneca's Eric Peng and Anthony Tso 21-12, 21-18 to advance to the final. Opposing the Trojans will be Roshan Jacob and Arpi Sinha of the Fanshawe Falcons. The Falcons upset Greg Friske and Anirudh Sharma (NAIT) 16-21, 21-11, 21-14 in the semi-final, avenging a round robin loss. Sinha will be playing for a first national championship after capturing a CCAA bronze medal in 2022 in Men's Doubles (San Dang). Seneca's Tso will be looking to capture a third CCAA medal to go with a 2022 national championship (Akara Chooprawad) and bronze medal (Kevin Shah) this past season.
Mixed Doubles
Mahdi Ahmadi and Khushi Vaniya of The King's University dominated the round robin, going 5-0 and failed to drop a game, outscoring their opponents 211-114. The duo breezed through their semi-final match, defeating Gokul Kumar and Zeel Rohit (Humber) 21-11, 21-11. Joining the gold medal match will be Krishna Vaibhov and Sydney Arseneault of the University of New Brunswick Saint John Sea Wolves who finished the round robin 4-1 before defeating Davis Wong and Manasi Pandit (NAIT) 21-16, 21-17. Vaibhov/Arseneault and Wong/Pandit will meet for the bronze medal with the former winning the first time the two met 21-18, 10-21, 21-12.
The championships will continue on Saturday at 10am with the consolation matches (5th/6th) and bronze medal matches. The gold medal matches will start at 1:30pm.
Day 1 Recap:
The opening day of the CCAA Badminton National Championships saw excellent play mixed with nerves as the top collegiate badminton players embarked on Seneca Polytechnic.
Women's Singles
National Player of the Year and defending national champion Ritu Shah of the University of King's College Eagles had an unblemished 3-0 opening day to sit atop the women's singles standings. Shah's undefeated record was tested in the final match of the day, going three sets with Jasleen Kaur of Concordia (ACAC) before prevailing 21-11, 19-21, 21-15. Sitting one game back at 2-1 is a trio which includes Kaur, Prarthana Deuba (Centennial/OCAA 2) and Moti Shams (Seneca/OCAA). The four should be battling for positioning in the semi-finals as they each hold a minimum two-win lead over the fifth and sixth place players.
Men's Singles
The reigning gold and silver medalists from 2023 sit atop the men's singles standings. Colin Zhou (Centennial/OCAA) and Thomas Ashton (UKC/ACAA) outscored their opponents 287-144 while going a combined 6-0. Ashton was extended to three sets twice, against each ACAC player. A three-way tie at 1-2 includes SAIT's (ACAC) Eason Wong, NAIT's (ACAC 2) Smit Patel and Seneca's (OCAA 2) Val Wong. Patel defeated Eason Wong 23-21, 21-12 while Eason Wong defeated Val Wong 21-16, 21-19. Patel and Val Wong play in round five (1pm) Friday.
Women's Doubles
The King's University's Abby Ledda and Cecilia Wolski (ACAC) sit atop the standings with an unblemished 3-0 record. The duo defeated ACAC 2 to open the championship 21-12, 21-9 to kickstart their day. The ACAC champions defeated OCAA 2 21-9, 21-16 before outlasting ACAA in three sets 21-15, 20-22, 21-8. Sitting at 2-1 are the team of Tanya Sharma and Hedeih Abbasbeiglou (Seneca/OCAA 2) and Monique Lee and Giselle Kochapanya (George Brown/OCAA). Mount Allison and University of King's College sit in a tie for fourth at 1-2.
Men's Doubles
The SAIT Trojans (Jason Chiu and Paul Ouano) control the men's doubles division, thanks to a perfect 3-0 record. The team defeated ACAC 2 (21-14, 21-18), OCAA 2 (21-17, 21-18) and ACAA (21-13, 21-17) in three closely contested matches. NAIT (Greg Friske and Anirudh Sharma) are tied with Fanshawe's Arpi Sinha and Roshan Jacob in second place after each team with 2-1. The NAIT holds the tie-breaker after defeating Fanshawe in round three 18-21, 21-19, 21-18. Seneca (Anthony Tso and Eric Peng) and Mount Allison (Jacob Lamothe and Mike Ta) each sit at 1-2, but will meet first thing tomorrow morning in round four.
Mixed Doubles
Mahdi Ahmadi and Khushi Vaniya of The King's University remain the only undefeated team (3-0) following victories over Davis Wong and Manasi (NAIT/ACAC 2) 21-11, 21-6, Jason Kao and Vanness Lam (Seneca/OCAA 2) 21-13, 21-13 and Krishna Vaibhov and Sydney Arsenault (UNBSJ/ACAA) 22-20, 21-13. A showdown with Humber's Gokul Kumar and Zeel Rohit (OCAA) remains on the schedule as the Hawks currently sit in a tie with Vaibhov and Arsenault at 2-1. Battling for the final semi-final spot are Seneca and NAIT at 1-2 and Mount Allison (Ben Broadbent and Brianna Warwick) at 0-3.
The championships will continue on Friday at 10am with round four, featuring OCAA 2 vs. ACAA, ACAC 2 vs ACAA 2 and OCAA vs ACAC. Round five will commence at 1pm followed by the semi-finals at 4pm. The championships will conclude on Saturday with the bronze medal and consolation (5th/6th) matches at 10am followed by the gold medal matches at 1:30pm.
NAIT Ooks at Nationals
The NAIT Ooks badminton team is gearing up for an exciting challenge as they send six talented players to compete at the CCAA Nationals hosted by Seneca Polytechnic, starting on February 29th. The CCAA Nationals will feature players from Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA), Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC), and Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA).
The Ooks have displayed exceptional skill and determination, with six players qualifying for nationals and earning their spots on ACAC Team Two. The lineup features Smit Patel, who will be showcasing his prowess in men's singles, while Noel Do takes on the women's singles category. In men's doubles, the dynamic duo of Greg Friske and Anirudh Sharma promises thrilling matches. Rounding out the team are the formidable mixed doubles pair Manasi Pandit and Davis Wong. The NAIT Ooks are poised to make a significant impact at the Nationals, and fans eagerly anticipate their outstanding performances on the badminton court.
The action-packed tournament begins on February 29th at 10:30 a.m. EST, so make sure to mark your calendars and tune in to support the Ooks! We'll be providing daily updates on the team's progress, so be sure to check back every evening. And for even more information, including a live stream of the tournament, click the links below. Let's go Ooks!