Shuttlecocks were flying high in Timmins for the Northern Ontario Badminton Association (NOBA) Junior Championships over February 24-25.
This tournaments marks the culmination of the NOBA Junior Tournament Series.
It brought athletes from Marathon, Coachrane, Hearst, Timmins, North Bay, Sudbury, Elliot Lake and Blind River together to compete for the coveted NOBA Junior Champion titles.
The North Bay Badminton Team brought 27 of it's athletes to compete at the event. As a relatively young team, the North Bay Badminton Team played in full force and competed hard for only it's fourth year in existence. Athletes from the team competed in U14, U16 and U19 age groups in addition to competing in singles, doubles and mixed doubles events.
Head coach, Kurt Tempelmans Plat was delighted with the weekend's performance.
"It's crazy to think that I only had seven athletes just a few years ago and that we barely managed a few wins," he said.
"Fast forward until now, and out development is unreal. The team has been working so hard and it truly showed this weekend. As always there were disappointing and exciting moments, but overall I could not be more proud of these kids who put their heart and soul in to their training and let it flourish during competition. I can only imagine where we'll be come this time next season!"
The team collected a total of 31 medals, including six championship titles. These titles include: U14 Boys Doubles (Zachary Kizell & Cheukman Zhou of the North Bay Dragons), U16 Boys Singles (Tyson Periard), U16 Boys Doubles (Dillon Laberge & Isaac Gutierrez), U16 Mixed Doubles (Tyson Periard & Olivia Legendre of the Don Legendre Badminton Club), in addition to the Overall U14 Team Trophy and Overall U16 Team Trophy (which was won for the third consecutive year).
Special mentions to Zachary Kizell that made finals in all U14 events, to Tyson Periard that won two championship titles (and finished 4th in U19 doubles), and to Nicholas Babich that made top 3 in all U19 events.
The team also competed in a local tournament hosted by KTP Athletics March 3-4. The tournament drew upon athletes from Bracebridge to Timmins and Mattawa to Blind River. This year's event had approximately 135 attendees (30 more than last year's event). Overall the North Bay Badminton Team competed well and brought home a total of 34 medals, and took home 3 titles. Special mention to Marina Sinicrope that took home silver in U19 Girls Singles and gold in U19 Girls Doubles.
"I'm very happy with how the tournament went this weekend," said Tempelmans Plat.
"It was my third team organizing a junior tournament in the area, and the event ran very smoothly. My team had some really great moments this weekend and some athletes really stood out. I look forward to see how they develop moving forward into the end of the season and the coming years."
The team also enjoyed it's end of the year banquet on March 5; this time is taken to acknowledge the year's accomplishments, and hand out awards to athletes. This year's award recipients are:
U14 Male MVP - Ryan O'Donnell
U14 Male Most Improved - David Reid
U14 Female MVP - Alexis Courvoisier
U14 Female Most Improved - Mariyah Kazi
NOBA Male MVP - Isaac Gutierrez
NOBA Male Most Improved - Pierre Legrand
NOBA Female MVP - Jazlyn McGuinty
NOBA Female Most Improved - Andrée Courchesne
Provincial Male MVP - Nicholas Babich
Provincial Male Most Improved - Brady Fougère
Provincial Female MVP - Marina Sinicrope
Provincial Female Most Improved - Jewel Ng
Team Spirit Award - Brady Fougère
Coach's Special Achievement Award - Gabriel Pharand
The Provincial athletes will continue their training until the provincial championships at the end of April. They look forward to competing in Burlington April 28-30 at the Jr B Provincial Championships. Badminton programs will continue to run for any new-comers as well; spring lessons begin at the end of March (it is never too late to sign-up!) For more information on badminton in North Bay, visit www.ktpathletics.com!
NOBA Jr Championship Results (Timmins - Feb 24-25)
U14 Girls Singles
3 - Alexis Courvoisier
4 - Victoria Gadomski
5 - Mariyah Kazi
7 - Savanna Swearengen
5B - Pipa Ng
5B - Maryssa Mercier
U14 Boys Singles
2 - Zachary Kizell
3 - Ryan O'Donnell
3B - David Reid
4C - Jose Carter
U14 Girls Doubles
3 - Maryssa Mercier/Mariyah Kazi
1B - Alexis Courvoisier/Savanna Swearengen
2B - Victoria Gadomski/Pipa Ng
U14 Boys Doubles
1 - Zachary Kizell/Cheukman Zhou (North Bay Dragons)
4 - David Reid/Jose Carter
U14 Mixed Doubles
2 - Zachary Kizell/Alexis Courvoisier
3 - Savanna Swearengen/partner
5B - Mariyah Kazi/David Reid
5B - Jose Carter/Maryssa Mercier
U16 Girls Singles
5 - Jazlyn McGuinty
7B -Andrée Courchesne
U16 Boys Singles
1 - Tyson Periard
3 - Dillon Laberge
5 - Ethan Monahan
1B - Pierre Legrand
2B - Isaac Gutierrez
5B - Kris Barrer
5B - Yanik Olivier
U16 Girls Doubles
1B - Andrée Courchesne/Jazlyn McGuinty
U16 Boys Doubles
1 - Isaac Gutierrez/Dillon Laberge
3 - Kris Barrer/Yanik Olivier
1B - Pierre Legrand/Ethan Monahan
U16 Mixed Doubles
1 - Tyson Periard/Olivia Legendre (Don Legendre Badminton Club)
4 - Isaac Gutierrez/partner
5 - Dillon Laberge/Kristen Vane (Thériault)
1B - Jazlyn McGuinty/Ethan Monahan
2B - Kris Barrer/partner
5B - Yanik Olivier
7B -Pierre Legrand/Andrée Courchesne
U19 Boys Singles
3 - Nicholas Babich
5 - Brady Fougère
3B - Addison Hunt
U19 Girls Singles
4 - Jewel Ng
1B - Marina Sinicrope
1C - Mai Lee Edwards
3C - Sam Derosier
U19 Boys Doubles
2 - Nicholas Babich/Brady Fougère
4 - Tyson Periard/Addison Hunt
U19 Girls Doubles
1B - Marina Sinicrope/Jewel Ng
3C - Sam Derosier/Mai Lee Edwards
U19 Mixed Doubles
3 - Marina Sinicrope/Nicholas Babich
5B - Jewel Ng/Addison Hunt
5B - Sam Derosier/Ben Houle (Blind River)
1C - Mai Lee Edwards/Brady Fougère
KTP Athletics Jr Tournament Results (North Bay - March 3-4)
U14 Girls Singles
2 - Alexis Courvoisier
4 - Pipa Ng
5 - Victoria Gadomski
7 - Savanna Swearengen
2B - Maryssa Mercier
1C - Mariyah Kazi
3C -Chloe Popp
U14 Boys Singles
2 - Ryan O'Donnell
5 - Jose Carter
7 - Anton Stencill
2B - Paul Fuzy
U14 Girls Doubles
3 - Mariyah Kazi/Maryssa Mercier
1B - Victoria Gadomski/Pipa Ng
1C - Julia Rivet/Chloe Popp
U14 Boys Doubles
3 - Jose Carter/partner
4 - Anton Stencill/partner
U14 Mixed Doubles
2 - Savanna Swearengen/partner
3 - Chloe Popp/partner
1B - Mariyah Kazi/partner
2B - Anton Stencill/Pipa Ng
3B - Jose Carter/Julia Rivet
U16 Boys Singles
2 - Isaac Gutierrez
3 - Ethan Monahan
5 - Jaden Blanchette
7 - Marco Brazeau
3B - Pierre Legrand
U16 Girls Singles
5 - Jazlyn McGuinty
7 - Carly Perrin
3B - Andrée Courchesne
U16 Boys Doubles
2 - Pierre Legrand/Ethan Monahan
3 - Jaden Blalnchette/partner
U16 Girls Doubles
1B - Jazlyn McGuinty/Andrée Courchesne
2B - Carly Perrin/partner
U16 Mixed Doubles
1 - Dillon Laberge/Olivia Legendre (Don Legendre Badminton Club)
5 - Isaac Gutierrez/Ella Legendre (Don Legendre Badminton Club)
5 - Pierre Legrand/Andrée Courchesne
7 - Ethan Monahan/Jazlyn McGuinty
7 - Jaden Blanchette/Carly Perrin
U19 Boys Singles
2 - Adam Wallace
5 - Addison Hunt
5 - Gabriel Pharand
7 - Nicholas Babich
3B - Brady Fougère
5B - Dillon Laberge
U19 Girls Singles
2 - Marina Sinicrope
4 - Ellen Perry
2B - Jewel Ng
U19 Boys Doubles
4 - Brady Fougère/Nicholas Babich
2B - Isaac Gutierrez/Dillon laberge
3B - Adam Wallace/Hunter Roy (Wiki)
U19 Girls Doubles
1 - Marina Sinicrope/Jewel Ng
3 - Ellen perry/Kalie Rheault (Sudbury)
2B -Sam Derosier/Annabelle Gingras (Temiscaming)
U19 Mixed Doubles
1 - Ellen Perry/Caleb Parfitt (NB Dragons)
4 - Adam Wallace/Kalie Rheault (Sudbury)
5 - Addison Hunt/Jewel Ng
7 - Marina Sinicrope/Brady Fougère
