General

In U17 Mixed Doubles, tournament top seeds Desmond Wang and Abby Ledda (AB) faced off against third seeds Nicolas Pittman and Elizabeth Evans (AB). The match went two games, and while both teams played admirably, Wang and Ledda came out on top with a 21-15, 21-15 victory.

 

British Columbia’s Ben Wang surprised everyone when he took out the tournament’s second seed Bryan Poon (ON) in U17 Boys Singles during the first day of competition. In Sunday’s finals, he faced top seed Kevin Luo (BC). Each athlete fought hard, but Luo won the match 21-9, 21-18.

 

After battling each other in Mixed Doubles, top seeds Nicolas Pittman and Desmond Wang (AB) joined forces against Gao Tian and Ben Wang (BC) in U17 Boys Doubles. The Alberta duo clinched a victory in two games, 21-13, 21-17.

 

Fourth seed Wendy Zhang (BC) took gold in U17 Girls Singles against top seed Erin O’Donaghue (AB) in two games as well, winning 21-18, 21-16. The young Albertan will be heading to the Canada Winter Games next week with a firmer sense of what she needs to do to clinch a podium finish.

 

Zhang also took gold in U17 Girls Doubles with her partner Michelle Yeung (BC). The top seeded duo faced off against fellow British Columbians Annie Chow and Jessica Yuen in a match that went the distance, coming back from a loss to win 19-21, 21-17, 21-12.

 

U19 Mixed Doubles saw a tough battle between top seeds Kevin Lee (AB) and Jenna Wong (BC) and Mingxi Jian and Qingzi Ouyang (BC). The latter won a swift victory in two 21-12 games.

 

Team BC’s James Ho will be headed to the Canada Winter Games in Prince George with another gold medal under his belt; the number two seed in U19 Boys Doubles beat out number four seed Jonathan Lai (BC) 22-10, 22-10.

 

As expected, top U19 Boys Doubles seeds Austin Bauer and Ty Lindeman (AB), also heading to the Canada Winter Games next week, had a gold medal finish in Sunday’s finals. The duo beat fellow Albertans Byron Holcek and Kevin Lee 21-13, 21-15.

 

In U19 Girls Singles, top seed Qingzi Ouyang (BC) triumphed over fellow Team BC teammate and second seed Kylie Cheng in a spirited match.

 

Ouyang and Cheng took gold together in U19 Girls Doubles; after the final round robin match where they defeated Monica Cowper (AB) and Jenna Wong (BC) 21-9, 21-12, the BC duo edged past Team BC teammates Alexa Wu and Samantha Zheng in points and clinched a victory.

 

All the athletes played very well at 2015 Black Knight British Columbia Junior Elite, but a special recognition is due to Qingzi Ouyang for winning a triple crown at the competition. This is her second consecutive triple crown in an Elite Series event, and should prove a major advantage to Team BC as the provinces head into the Canada Winter Games in Prince George next week.