Sam Nahrgang, NAIT Athletics

EDMONTON, ALTA. - The NAIT Ooks badminton team is hosting ACAC Tournament #2 this Sunday at NAIT. The team heads straight into action following their New Year's exhibition trip to Hawaii.

The Ooks traveled to Hawaii alongside their ACAC rival Concordia Thunder, to compete in the Honolulu Open over the winter break. This is the 12th time since 2000 that the team has made the trip to compete in the international tournament. The tournament consists of players from all over North America along with Japan who travel to meet on the Pacific island. NAIT's Eyota Kwan and Samantha Hsu finished first in women's doubles, while Kwan also finished second in women's singles and mixed double's with her teammate Jeff Ko.

"The Honolulu Open is a great experience for our players. They get to bond as a team both on and of the court while competing against strong international competition. It's a once in a lifetime trip for them. The trip also acts as a major recruiting tool for our program," said Ooks' head coach, Sinead Cheah.

The Ooks now head back into ACAC action as they get set to host the second tournament of the year this Sunday. NAIT will be looking to continue their success from the first tournament of the year where they finished in 1st place with 138 points. 

"We had a strong first tournament. We feel prepared to get back into action this weekend in our home gym" said Cheah.