The NAIT Ooks badminton team will compete in the ACAC Championships this weekend at Concordia University. The Ooks have athletes participating in men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles.
Expectations are high for the Ooks as Head Coach Alan Chow is confident heading into Championship weekend. In last season's Championships, the Ooks had two gold medal winners and will be looking to build off that this weekend.
"We are prepared and confident for the Championships as we have been training hard all season for this moment. I am excited to see the positive results," said Chow.
The Ooks sit in third place in the Team Event through three tournaments with a score of 405 and only 56 points back of King's University for first.
"We believe we have a strong chance to bring home the title for the team event, and we are excited to showcase our skills," said Chow.
The Ooks have yet to be consistent in who is competing in what event this season but Davis Wong and Brandon Gendre will likely compete this weekend in men's singles. Wong has been consistent in the two tournaments he saw action, finishing fourth in both. Gendre has struggled this season, although he does have experience; he competed in the Championships last season but lost to teammate Jay Patel in the Bronze medal game.
Ivy Ung saw some success in women's singles, finishing third in the only tournament she played in. LJ Abrazado and Moominah Ali have competed in this event but have yet to make it past the quarterfinals. Ali played in the Championships in 2022, winning one round before falling in the quarters.
The Ooks have dominated men's doubles this season. Davis Wong and Anirudh Sharma have won the last two tournaments after not participating in the first one. Brandon Gendre and Nam Nguyen have played all three weekends together, finishing fourth twice and third once. The Ooks should expect great results this weekend.
In women's doubles, Ooks, Sylvie Bibeau has finished third in all three tournaments this season. Each weekend she was paired with someone different, so it's hard to predict what to expect this weekend. Ivy Ung, Noel Do, and Moominah Ali have all played with Bibeau this season.
In mixed doubles, there has been little consistency with the pairs. Ivy Ung and Anirudh Sharma have had the most success playing in two tournaments, finishing second and third. Davis Wong and Ung were sensational in last year's Championships, winning Gold.
The tournament starts on Saturday at 10 a.m. and will run through Sunday evening at the Ralph King Athletic Centre.