General

Another year of amazing accomplishements by our Canadian athletes. Let's look back an celebrate the year's best moments!

January 30 – February 2: National Championships in Calgary, AB
Yonex Canadian National Championships hosted at the Glencoe Club in Calgary, Alberta. Brian Yang became Canada’s youngest ever national champion at only 17 years old defeating top seeded Jason Ho-Shue in the finals. Meanwhile, Michelle Li claimed her fifth national title.  

	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Men’s Singles	Brian Yang	Jason Ho-Shue	Imran Wadia
Women’s Singles	Michelle Li	Brittney Tam	Talia Ng
Men’s Doubles	Jason Ho-Shue Nyl Yakura	Joshua Hurlburt-Yu Duncan Yao	Toby Ng Br Sankeerth
Women’s Doubles	Rachel Honderich Kristen Tsai	Michelle Li Talia Ng	Catherine Choi Josephine Wu
Mixed Doubles	Joshua Hurlburt-Yu Josephine Wu	Ty Lindeman Rachel Honderich	Nyl Yakura Kristen Tsai

 

February 14 - 17: Pan Am Team Championships
Nine athletes travelled to Lima, Peru to compete at the XXIII Pan Am Mixed Team Championships. Team Canada Brushed aside; Columbia, Peru, Cuba, and USA en route to an eleventh consecutive gold medal losing only 5 total games in the process.
 

February 25 – March 2: Canada Winter Games
The XXVII Canada Winter Games badminton was hosted at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Center in Red Deer Alberta. Athletes representing all 13 provinces and territories were present.

	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Men’s Singles	Antonio Li (BC)	Kevin Lee (AB)	Imran Wadia (AB)
Women’s Singles	Wendy Zhang (BC)	Talia Hailey Ng (ON)	Jacqueline Cheung (ON)
Men’s Doubles	Austin Bauer Kevin Lee (AB)	Stanley Feng Jonathan Lai (ON)	Mathieu Morneau Thien Quan Nicolas Nguyen (QC)
Women’s Doubles	Kylie Cheng Wendy Zhang (BC)	Camille LeBlanc Alyson Ruan (QC)	Catherine Choi Crystal Lai (ON)
Mixed Doubles	Austin Bauer Kyleigh O’Donoghue (AB)	Imran Wadia Takeisha Wang (AB)	Thien Quan Nicloas Nguyen Alexandra Mocanu (QC)

 For full results please visit: https://cg2019.gems.pro/Result/Event_List.aspx?Sport_GUID=4fcf46e6-457c-46a4-b8d0-e901f332ecea&SetLanguage=en-CA
 

March 22 – 24:  Univeristy & College National Championships
The Yonex Canadian University & College Championships were held in Drummondville, Quebec. The University of Toronto Varsity Blues won the team event defeating defending Champions Université Laval. The University of Waterloo took bronze.

	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Men’s Singles	Liam Woodside	Jonathan Lai	Mathieu Morneau
Women’s Singles	Katie Ho-Shue	Bethany So	Vivian Kwok
Men’s Doubles	Xavier Laperrière Mathieu Morneau	Joric Goulet Félix-Antoine Vadnais	Adwin Lau Liam Woodside
Women’s Doubles	Giselle Chan Katie Ho-Shue	Vivian Kwok Bethany So	Kristy Chan Cara De Belle
Mixed Doubles	Jonathan Lai Giselle Chan	Jack Hong Lin Bethany So	Philippe Giguere Sarah Cauchon

 

April 25 - 28: Pan Am Individual Championships
The XXIII Pan Am Individual Championships took place in Aguascalientes, Mexico. 17 athletes represented Canada claiming 9 total medals (4 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze). Team Canada won gold in every event except for one! Women’s Singles and Women’s Doubles both featured all Canadian finals. In Women’s Singles, Michelle Li defeated Brittney Tam to secure her fourth Pan Am Individual gold. In Women’s Doubles, Rachel Honderich and Kristen Tsai defeated Catherine Choi and Josephine Wu to successfully defend their title. For full results please visit: http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/winners.aspx?id=14A6087C-44EC-4DEB-9778-F0826A5D017E
 

May 7 – 12: Canadian Para-badminton International 
Over 30 countries participated in the first ever Canadian Para-Badminton International Event in Ottawa, Ontario. The event had 195 athletes in 22 different events. The event took place in the Monpetit Gym at The University of Ottawa. The University of Ottawa campus also housed the athletes and provided meals for all participants for the duration of the event.
 

May 20 – 25: U23 & Junior National Championships
Canada’s top junior players united in Winnipeg, Manitoba to compete to be National Champions. The 2019 Yonex Canadian U23 & Junior National Championships were held at the Canada Games Sport for Life Centre and showcased some of Canada’s top badminton players over four age groups (U15, U17, U19, U23).The event also an presented opportunity for U11 and U13 athletes to qualify for Badminton Canada’s Junior National Development Team. For full results please visit: https://www.badminton.ca/sport/winners.aspx?id=6F9EA5E2-8CB6-4C09-A133-9FD0B71964A7
 

May 24 – 26: 2019 Sudirman Cup Group 2 Champions
Team Canada were crowned group 2 champions at the TOTAL BWF Sudirman Cup. Canada’s first challenge of the tournament was a strong Signapore 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. After defeating Singapore, Canada used their momentum to rally an impressive team effort and defeat Israel 5-0. Next, Canada needed to upset second ranked Germany to win group 2B and advance from group play. 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. After their narrow victory (3-2), Canada squared off against group 2A victors France. Canada defeated France (3-2) to win group 2 and take 13^th overall at the event. This results truly showcases the quality of Canadian badminton and highlights a bright future for Canadian athletes heading into Tokyo 2020.
 

July 16 – 20: Canada Hosts 2019 Pan American Junior Championships
Team Canada comes out on top of the Individual Event at the Pan American Junior Championships. The event took in place Moncton, New Brunswick with participation of the best Pan Am Junior Players from Barbados, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Trinidad & Tobago, United States and host Canada. Canada led the medals table with 15 gold, 12 silver and 27 bronze across 5 age groups (U11, U13, U15, U17, U19). For full results please visit:  http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament?id=0D48F0AF-0CE5-4485-A982-F6D66D264932
 

July 29 – August 2: 2019 Pan Am Games!
Team Canada returns to Lima for the Pan Am Games! Team Canada put in a very impressive showing winning 4 of 5 gold medals and 8 total medals. Two events featured all Canadian Finals. In mixed doubles, Joshua Hurlburt-Yu and Josephine Wu defeated Nyl Yakura and Kristen Tsai. In Women’s Singles Michelle Li defeated Rachel Honderich to win her third consecutive Pan Am Games gold medal.
 

August 13: BWF Ranking
Michelle Li - Fresh off her victory at the Pan Am Games, rises to 9^th in the BWF Rankings!
 

September 9: Safe Sport Launch
Badminton Canada launches its new Safe Sport Initiative! This initiative includes working with Safe Sport Officer Lise Maclean. Lise will serve as its arms-length, third-party Safe Sport Officer. She will work independently of Badminton Canada and be a point of contact for those wishing to make a complaint under Badminton Canada’s Code of Conduct and Harassment policies. Badminton Canada registrants may contact Lise Maclean, Safe Sport Officer, by email. safesportofficer@safesportagency.ca. Additionally, www.badminton.ca now offers a new section devoted to Safe Sport where pertaining information and resources can be found for all participants of our sport.
 

October 7 – 13: 2019 World Junior Championships
11 Canadian Junior National Team Members traveled to Kazan, Russia for the 2019 BWF World Junior Championships. At the time two Canadian athletes were ranked within the top 15 of the BWF Juniors Rankings. Brian Yang 4^th in Men’s Singles and Talia Ng 13^th in Women’s Singles. For full results please visit: https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament?id=268B0065-3AAA-4B50-9BD6-BF23A583F850
 

October 30 – November 3: Michelle Li defends WS title at Macau Open
Michelle Li returns to the Macau Open to successfully defend her Women’s Singles title at the BWF World Tour Super 300 tournament, winning important Olympic qualification points on the way. Michelle faced third seed Han Yue of China in the finals where she won in two games (21-18, 21-8) to win her second straight title.
 

November 13 -17: Para-athletes head to Japan!
Canadian para-badminton athletes competed in Tokyo at the 2019 Japan Para-Badminton International. Five Canadian athletes from 3 para-badminton classifications were present. Mikhail Bilenki (WH1), Yuka Chokyu (WH1), Pascal Lapointe (SL4), Olivia Meier (SL4), and Wyatt Lightfoot (SS6). This event is one of fourteen events that provides athletes an opportunity to earn points towards BWF World Rankings, a crucial part in order to qualify for badminton's debut in the Paralympic Games this summer. The 2019 Japan Para-Badminton International is considered a "test-event", where athletes, coaches, and host committees got a taste of what was to come.
 

December 5: Brian Yang rises to 2^nd in the BWF Junior Rankings. To cap off a very successful year, Brian won gold at both the Suriname Open and Santo Domingo Open to propel himself up the standings.