MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - The 2019 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Badminton Championships presented by belairdirect have concluded with a mix of new and old on top of the respective podiums.
OCAA Men's Badminton Player of the Year Ramnish Kumar (India) of Humber is the new OCAA men's singles champion, defeating last year's gold medalist Yuge (Ace) Zeng (China) of George Brown 21-14, 21-17 in the finale. Zeng settles for a single medal. In the bronze finale, George Brown's John Lee (Taiwan) outlasted Conestoga's David Lewis (Cambridge) 16-21, 21-19, 21-19.
George Brown's Ann Hoang (Vietnam) successfully defended her women's singles gold medal, defeating OCAA Women's Badminton Player of the Year Rachel Wong (Hong Kong) of UTM 21-7, 21-9. Wong improves on her bronze medal a year ago. In the bronze medal match, Fanshawe's Melanie Wade (Calgary, Alta.) defeated Jessie Maher (Tottenham) of Georgian 21-14, 22-20.
In men's doubles, Arpit Taneja (India) and Ayubu Touray (Toronto) of Humber needed three sets to claim gold against the George Brown duo of Alex Chao (Ottawa) and Eric Kern (Desborats) 21-7, 20-22, 21-18. With the silver, Chao and Kern both claim their third OCAA career medals. Nicholas Hon (Richmond Hill) and Gary Tin (Richmond Hill) of UTM thrilled the home fans winning the bronze medal over Seneca's Justin Wong (Vancouver, B.C.) and Yaoren Liang (China) 21-11, 18-21, 21-16.
Humber's Chloe Rowe (Newcastle) is now a three-time women's doubles gold medalist, this time teaming up with Victoria Duong (Kitchener). The duo defeated Fanshawe's Helen Ngu (London) and Han Pham (Vietnam) 21-17, 17-21, 21-13. Courtney Brewer (Manitouwadge) and Michelle Kozlowskyj (Garson) of Georgian repeated as OCAA bronze medalists, defeating Boréal's Emilie Roy (South Porcupine) and Lynn Michel (Sudbury) 23-21, 16-21, 21-17.
In mixed doubles, Mike Ra (Toronto) and Angeline Alviar (Toronto) of George Brown defeated Centennial's Chirag Dave (India) and Jia Yi Feng (Toronto) 21-10, 21-15 for gold. Alviar wins her first OCAA gold medal to go with two career silvers and a bronze, while Ra was a silver medalist in mixed doubles last year. Taking the mixed bronze were Harry Cotaras (Halifax, N.S.) and Elizabeth Duong (Peterborough) of Humber 21-9, 21-12 over St. Lawrence's Mikayla Desnoyers (Casselman) and Brandon Watkins (Finch).
For the second time in as many championships, the George Brown Huskies won both men's and women's team championships.
The gold and silver medalists will now travel to Bible Hill, N.S. for the 2019 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Badminton National Championships.
- OCAA -
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Ontario Colleges Athletic Association
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E-mail: bell-webster@ocaa.com