Events

Friday May, 24^th 2019 – Nanning, China was the site that showcased just how far Canadian Badminton has come on an international level. Heading into the TOTAL BWF Sudirman Cup 2019, Team Canada was looking forward to competing against some of the best competition around the world. In Group 2 B action, Team Canada began the tournament against a tough Singapore team, where Jason Anthony Ho-Shue and Nyl Yakura took home a thrilling men’s doubles victory (21-16,27-25) to lead Canada to the 3-2 win.

The Canadian team used this momentum as they went on to defeat Israel 5-0, after some impressive performances form the whole team. The key results from this matchup that helped energize the team came from both the men’s and women’s singles side. Brittney Tam (WS) got the job done after she defeated Israel’s Ksenia Polikarpova 21-15 and 25-23. B. R Sankeerth (MS) followed in Tam’s footsteps by securing the win over May Bar Netzer 22-20 and 21-14.

After two impressive wins over Singapore and Israel, Team Canada knew it was going to take a full team effort if they wanted to upset the second ranked German team. The Germans had also defeated Singapore (3-2) and Israel (3-2) earlier in the tournament, meaning the winner of this matchup would take first place in Group 2 B. Joshua Hurlburt-Yu and Duncan Yao lost a tough opening men’s doubles match to the German pair of Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel (21-10, 21-16). This loss only seemed to motivate the Canadians, as Michelle Li stepped on the court next to avenge her teammates by defeating Yvonne Li in a thrilling women’s singles match (25-23,17-21-5-21). Building off Michelle’s victory, Jason Anthony Ho-Shue followed up a win of his own by defeating Kai Schaefer in a dominant fashion to secure the men’s singles victory (21-12, 21-17). With the 2-1 lead over the Germans, Rachel Honderich and Kristen Tsai in women’s doubles action, took it upon themselves to secure the team victory for Canada. The impressive chemistry between Honderich and Tsai flourished as they defeated the German pair of Johanna Goliszewski and Lara Kaepplein (21-18, 21-17), giving Team Canada the 3-1 lead heading into the final mixed double match. Joshua Hulburt-Yu and Josephine Wu fell short in a competitive mixed double match (22-20, 21-15), but were quickly embraced by their teammates in celebration as Team Canada had officially upset the Germans 3-2 putting them atop Group 2 B.

With the Canadians winning Group 2 B, this placed them in the Group 2 finals where they would face Team France, who were the victors of Group 2 A. The Canadian team knew they were in for another tough matchup as France was ranked similar to them, as a ¾ seed. Jason Anthony Ho-Shue and Nyl Yakura started the finals off for Team Canada in men’s doubles action where they battled against the French pair of Thom Gicquel and Ronan Labar in hopes to give Canada the early lead. Ho-Shue and Yakura played a strong match but dropped the men’s double opener (21-16, 21-17) giving France the early lead. But no stranger to adversity, out came Michelle Li looking to even the matchup in women’s singles action against Yaelle Hoyaux. Li using her experience and composure defeated Hoyaux in dominant fashion (21-7, 21-4) to give Canada the momentum moving into the next match. The turning point in this final was when 17-year-old Brian Yang stepped on the court to take on Brice Leverdez who is currently ranked No.34 in the world. Yang knew this was going to be one of the most difficult opponents of his young career, but was ready to prove himself to not only his teammates but the rest of the world. Yang came out strong and never looked back, he took the first two matches (21-14, 21-12) needing only 37 minutes to take down one of the top badminton players in the world. Rachel Honderich and Kristen Tsai again had the opportunity the secure the victory for Team Canada and lead them to a Group 2 title. After watching their teammate Brian Yang defeat one of the top 40 world ranked players, they had all the motivation they needed heading into their women’s doubles match against Emilie Lefel and Anne Tran. Similar to the match against the Germans, Honderich and Tsai did their job by defeating the French pair 21-11 and 21-17 giving Team Canada the 3-1 victory over the French.

This win crowned the Canadians as the Group 2 winners of the TOTAL BWF Sudirman Cup 2019, sending a strong message across the badminton community. This amazing win also allowed Team Canada to finish 13^th overall at the event. This result showcases the ­­­remarkable talent of our national athletes and shows promise of a bright future for badminton in Canada.

Badminton Canada’s High Performance Director, Jordan Bridal quoted “We are extremely happy with Canada’s results and the great performances of our athletes and coaches. This hopefully creates a great base for our Canadian athletes qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games”

Men’s Team Members:

B.R Sankeerth

Jason Anthony Ho-Shue

Joshua Hurlburt-Yu

Nyl Yakura

Brian Yang

Duncan Yao

Women’s Team Members:

Michelle Li

Josephine Wu

Brittney Tam

Rachel Honderich

Kristen Tsai