McMaster badminton team finishes fifth at OUA championships
The McMaster badminton team concludes their official season with a three-day tournament hosted by Toronto Metropolitan University
Every year the McMaster University badminton team trains for one major competition — the Ontario University Athletics badminton championships. Months of training are put to the test at the OUA championships, which mark the end of McMaster’s official season.
This year, the Marauders finished in fifth place at the 2023 OUA championships hosted by Toronto Metropolitan University from Feb. 17 to Feb. 19. The tournament featured nine Ontario universities, with powerhouse schools such as the University of Waterloo and University of Toronto.
The teams were split into two pools. McMaster was placed in Pool B with York University, University of Waterloo, Toronto Metropolitan University and Ontario Tech University. The tournament kicked off Friday morning round-robin style, meaning McMaster would play all Pool B teams to receive rankings for the final day.
In the tournament a face-off between two teams consists of ten matches — two women’s singles, two men’s singles, two women’s doubles, two men’s doubles and two mixed doubles. Each match is played to the best of three sets.
“Badminton is a pretty individual sport, because it’s either single’s or double’s [matches], but since this is more of a team tournament [and] it's whichever team reaches a certain number of wins first, I think it really grows a team and makes the team grow stronger — because not only are you rooting for yourself, but you're rooting for your teammates,” explained Davina Lee, McMaster women’s badminton player.
“Badminton is a pretty individual sport, because it’s either single’s or double’s [matches], but since this is more of a team tournament [and] it's whichever team reaches a certain number of wins first, I think it really grows a team and makes the team grow stronger — because not only are you rooting for yourself, but you're rooting for your teammates.”
Davina Lee, McMaster women's badminton
McMaster concluded the round-robin with a seven to three victory against TMU, a close four to six loss against the University of Waterloo, a strong ten to zero victory against Ontario Tech University and a tough one to nine loss against York University. Overall, McMaster’s two wins and two losses earned the team a chance to play in the OUA quarter-finals Saturday afternoon.
The quarter-final game was against the University of Toronto, the 2022 OUA champions. The Marauders fell with a narrow four to six loss against Toronto.
On Sunday, McMaster geared up for a final game against the University of Ottawa, as both teams fought for fifth place. The match-up stirred some feelings of deja vu from last year’s tournament, where McMaster and Ottawa played each other for a top five finish. Ultimately, Ottawa came out on top last year, finishing in fifth place while McMaster finished in sixth.
This year, McMaster led the contest against Ottawa five to four, though, the final outcome came down to the final set of the final match. After an exciting and nail-biting display of talent, McMaster won six to four and claimed fifth place.
“It was really nice, because only one or two games are going on at a time. So everyone on the team is watching the one or two games, and the one or two people who are playing, and we’re just cheering for our teammates. We sit beside the court and [show support] after every rally,” said Lee.
“It was really nice, because only one or two games are going on at a time. So everyone on the team is watching the one or two games, and the one or two people who are playing, and we’re just cheering for our teammates. We sit beside the court and [show support] after every rally.”
Davina Lee, McMaster women's badminton
At the end of this year’s championships, two McMaster badminton players received recognition at the school and OUA level. First year player Natalie Yee was co-winner of the OUA Women’s Rookie of the Year and was named as one of two Marauders of the Week on Feb 21. Second year player Jeslyn Chow was named OUA Women’s All-Star.
After the departure of McMaster’s former badminton all-stars, this year’s show of talent brings promise to McMaster’s badminton program. And while the season is officially over, McMaster badminton players can be found at various independently hosted tournaments, such as the Laurier Winter Open Tournament on Mar. 11.
