Women’s singles highlights Team Canada performance at Eye-Level Cup

April 2014

Women’s singles highlights Team Canada performance at Eye-Level Cup

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                    RELEASE #14-02

OTTAWA (April 25, 2014) - A strong showing by Brittany Tam in the women’s singles event highlighted the performance by the Canadian Junior National Badminton Team at the 2014 Eye Level Cup, the junior world individual championships, in Alor Setar, Malaysia.

The Markham, Ontario resident had the best single performance by a Canadian, as she advanced to the third round of the tournament in women’s singles. She opened the tournament with a 21-12, 21-16 win over Reshma Karthik of India, and defeated Ilmee Waranga De Silva of Sri Lanka 21-11, 21-16 to advance to the third round.

However, while she gave No. 9-16 seed Russelli Hartawan of Indonesia all she could handle, Tam could not pull off the upset, falling in three thrilling sets (19-21, 21-15, 21-18).

Also in women’s singles, Takeisha Wang of Edmonton advanced to the second round, thanks to a 21-19, 21-9 win over Lia Salehar of Slovenia, but fell in two sets (21-19, 21-15) to Yaelle Hoyaux of France. Joanne Chen of Markham fell in the first round, 21-16 21-16, to South Korea’s Sun Young Park.

In men’s singles, Ty Lineman of Edmonton advanced to the second round with a three-set win over Dimitar Yanakiev of Bulgaria but fell in straight sets (21-13, 21-11) to Dumbukola Goonathileka Buwenaka Tharindu Dullewa of Sri Lanka. Jason Ho Shue of Markham narrowly missed advanced to the second round, falling 15-21, 21-15, 21-18 to Chak Wai Lee of Hong Kong, while Toronto’s Jonathan Lai also was knocked out in the first round, falling 21-12, 21-9 to South Korea’s Jun Su Lee.

In doubles play, the women’s pair of Wang and Markham’s Yu Chen suffered a three-set loss (21-17, 14-21, 21-14) to Lole Courtois and Delphine Delrue of France in their first-round match.

On the men’s side, Ho-Shue and Lai did not go down quietly against No. 9-16 seeded Altof Barriq and Reinard Dhanriano of Indonesia as they fell 21-12, 28-26. Both teams had chances to take the second game, but Ho-Shue and Lai were unable to force a third and deciding set.

Meanwhile, Lindeman and his partner, Austin Bauer of Calgary, also suffered a first-round loss, falling 21-16, 21-19 to Kuan Hsiang Lo and Yang Tien of Chinese Taipei.

In mixed doubles, the pair of Alexander Fung and Valeria Cheung of Edmonton dropped their first-round match, 17-21, 21-18, 21-14, to the Sri Lankan pair of Mestiyage Don Dilinia Gunatilleke and Buthmi Asini Galagamage, while Allan Ng of Port Moody, B.C., and Alexa Wu of Vancouver fell 21-17, 21-18 to Gea Kamahamas and Marsheilla Gisha Islami of Indonesia and the pair of Lindeman and Wang fell to Sze Fei Goh and Yen Wei Peck of the host country, Malaysia, by a score of 21-11, 21-12.

“Canadians had some great wins and some hard-fought and very well-played losses,” said Michael Butler, the team’s head coach, noting that Canada had one of the youngest teams at the event. “We do not like to lose but there are many positives we can take away from this experience.”

“The future looks very promising.”

 -30-