Woodstock Badminton Club

This is the time of year when all the hard work athletes put in during the season starts to pay off. Athletes from the Woodstock Club competed in multiple tournaments for their schools and in the Western Ontario Badminton Association (WOBA) Open this past weekend. 

Kristen Anguish had an amazing week as she won the WOBA ladies singles tournament and placed second at her school’s regional qualifying tournament to earn an invitation to the Central Western Ontario Secondary School Association (CWOSSA) badminton tournament. Way to go Kristen!

Derek Neeb and Matt Wilker competed in their Thames Valley Regional Athletics (TVRA) qualifying tournament to earn a spot at the next TVRA tournament, taking place this Wednesday at Glendale High School in Tillsonburg. Neeb and Wilker, competing for two different high schools met each other in the semi-finals of men’s singles with Neeb beating Wilker in two straight. Wilker then dropped to the consolation side of the bracket, won his next match and met Neeb again in the finals, which he won in three games! In a double elimination tournament format, Wilker had to beat Neeb in two straight matches for the title and ultimately Neeb prevailed to win the title. The two athletes represented themselves, our club and their schools well and put on quite a show for the spectators.

Matt Zu and Edwin Santhosh competed in their school qualifying tournament as well, finishing first and second respectively.

All in all, a tremendous week for athletes that train as part of the Youth Program at the Woodstock Badminton Club. Way to go everyone!

What a weekend! On Friday, March 29, members of the Woodstock Badminton Club High Performance Team travelled to Leamington to compete in their 6th Annual Junior Singles Tournament for grades 6 through 12. Players were divided into 6 divisions (3 for boys and 3 for girls) depending on grade level. Woodstock entered athletes in 4 divisions with tremendous results as per below:

Will, Braeden and Kristen all fought through strong junior fields to reach the finals with amazing results. While adversity met them along the way, Woodstock’s High Performance Team carried themselves with professionalism and dignity to achieve their well-deserved results.

Other notable performances were turned in by Ben Cougler who earned a Bronze medal after meeting Woodstock’s Will Waters in the semi-finals, and Derek Neeb who made it to the semi-finals of the top flight only to be hampered by a nagging calf injury – eventually losing to a player he had beaten in an earlier round. Derek’s gutsy performance in spite of his injury was a testament to his strength of character and resolve.

Accolades aside, I honestly couldn’t be prouder of all of our athletes. Zhao-Yu Tan, Jake Rahn, Mariam Hassan, Matt Wilker all played well but it is perhaps the sportsmanship they all exhibit which makes me the proudest. If a call is close to the line they give it to their opponent, they always shake hands and congratulate their opponents for good shots. As well, they support each other through defeat and through adversity. These are the life skills that are more important than their badminton skills, and it is for this reason that I am extremely proud of all of them. Way to go everyone!

Coach Kevin

The Bill Parkes Memorial Tournament (BPMT) took place this weekend at the Woodstock Badminton Club (WBC). In total, 102 athletes participated in 10 events representing secondary schools and badminton clubs from London, Ingersoll, Woodstock, Strathroy, Clinton, Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo & Brantford. 

Performances of note included Christopher Nelson, who went undefeated in a large pool of Junior Boys to win the Junior Singles title. His sister Christina, also undefeated in her draw, went home with gold in Junior Girls Singles. The Nelson siblings also took home medals in doubles play on Sunday – Christopher a silver, and Christina another gold with partner Allison Larass, making it two golds for Christina Nelson.

Matt Zu, Woodstock Badminton Club, also turned in an outstanding performance to go undefeated in a talented pool of Senior Boys to capture the singles title as well as a silver in boys doubles.

Woodstock Badminton Club members and students in the high performance squad with notable performances included Matt Wilker, Derek Neeb and Zhao-Yu Tan. Tan captured silver in Senior Boys Singles after several hard fought battles to make it to the finals. His finals match with Matt Zu was very exciting to watch. Neeb placed 4^th in the draw of 20 and Wilker tied for 5^th place in Senior Boys Singles. Neeb and Wilker also faired very well in the Senior Boys Doubles draw on Sunday. They fought back through the consolation round to make it to the consolation finals. After a very close match with Matt Zu and his partner Adriaan Van Raaij that went 3 very close games, Neeb and Wilker took home the bronze medal.

On the girls side, Kristen Anguish fought through adversity and a strong field to make it to the finals, eventually capturing a silver medal. Way to go Kristen!

The Woodstock Badminton Club had several youth members who competed in their very first tournament. Notably, Alistair Downing and Will Waters placed 4^th in Junior Boys Doubles in a strong pool of players, winning 2 of their matches. Also representing themselves well were Tyler Atkinson and Braeden Doucette who showed signs of exciting singles play and something to watch in their near future.

A special thank you to Andrew Downing, Tournament Director, who ran a flawless and extremely well organized event that was enjoyed by all. Thank you for your generous volunteer time Andrew for the benefit of all! 

Results and photos can be found here.

The Woodstock Badminton Club’s Derek Neeb put on a show at the Woodstock Youth Badminton Tournament this past Saturday. The tournament was initially billed as a regular championship / consolation tournament, however, Tournament Director Andrew Downing changed the format to a round robin to allow players more games. The attendance included players from the Stratford and Guelph clubs, providing for some stiff competition.

Neeb, a native of Ingersoll, played in the U19 category and went undefeated in all his matches. His final match went three games with Neeb losing his second game 27-25 but coming back in the 3rd to defeat his opponent 21-11. Both players received a resounding round of applause as they excited the court after providing spectators with a thrilling 25 minute match that had both players exhausted.  Neeb’s relentless attack and physical fitness proved the difference in the match.

An honourable mention goes to Ben Cougler, 10 years old, who was also undefeated in his matches, going 5-0 against the competition. Cougler, like Neeb, used an attacking strategy to continually pound the shuttle at opponents putting them on the defensive.

Neeb and Cougler are both athletes in the Woodstock Badminton Club’s High Performance Youth Program.