You won’t find a much more comfortable run through the Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association regional badminton championships than what Moose Jaw’s Kenzie Behrns and Harry Lin put together in their respective tournaments this past weekend.
Both players dropped a single set on their way to sweeping through the competition to earn berths in provincials this weekend in Rosthern.
For Cornerstone Chrisitan School’s Behrns, it was the continuation of a season of success as the defending provincial silver medalist rolled through the majority of her competition.
The closest match of the day for Behrns was against regional runner-up Olivia Hudec of Fox Valley, who won the first set 15-21 but would see the Falcons senior win the next two 21-15, 24-22 in what would turn out to be the gold-medal determining match..
The remainder of Behrns’ run saw her take a 21-11, 21-8 win over Briercrest Christian’s Skye Dueck, 21-15, 21-18 win over bronze medalist Danielle Reimer from Outlook, 21-8, 21-15 victory over Biggar’s Kennedy Sopczak and 22-20, 21-11 win over Swift Current’s Shekina Cordero.
Behrns will face Regina Campbell’s Sophie O’Neill, Shellbrook’s Melissa Skavlebo and Lloydminster’s Emma Gray in her provincial round-robin pool beginning Saturday morning.
Central’s Lin had an equally as solid showing through his boys singles run, with his toughest match coming in his opener, a 19-21, 21-13, 21-19 win over bronze medalist Ike Wong from Briercrest Christian. It was all straight sets from there, as Lin defeated silver medalist Navi Singh from Swift Current 22-20, 21-15, Biggar’s Abe Genis 21-18, 21-7, Kindersley’s Jacob Tryhuba 21-15, 21-8 and Cabri’s Micky Bradford 21-7, 21-12.
Lin has opted not to attend provincials, meaning Wong moves up to take the second berth. After falling to Lin, Wong defeated Genis 21-10, 21-16, Bradford 20-22, 21-14, 21-13, lost 21-16, 21-15 to Singh and clinched third place with a 21-9, 21-9 win over Tryhuba.
Joining Wong in his provincial pool will be John Kozak from Regina Leboldus, Riley Sylvestre from Muenster and Mikhail Sloboshan from Saskatoon Walter Murray.
The mixed doubles duo of Jaylon Salido-Porter and Ember Dusomme from Central will also be in action at provincials after a second-place finish in their draw.
The only loss for the Cyclones duo came in their second match, as they dropped a 15-21, 21-12, 21-18 decision to gold medalists Connor Frohlich and Hailey Carlson from Swift Current. Salido-Porter and DuSomme opened with a 21-18, 21-17 win over Gravelbourg’s bronze medal team of Hunter Rotheisler and Samuel Simonsen before defeating Rosetown’s Sewi Igbekoyi and Griff Hayes 21-12, 21-17, Dinsmore’s Amiyah Jones and Casey Green 21-13, 21-14 and Fox Valley’s Dominic Ehnisz and Lexi Schneider 21-10, 10-21, 21-16 in their final match.
Salido-Porter and Dusomme will face Lemberg’s Jake Mayo and Saren Petrychyn, Prince Albert’s Alex De Padua and Jazlyn Pshebnicki along with Saskatoon Centennial’s Michael Chai and Nilah Ong in their provincial draw.
Provincials run all day Saturday in Rosthern.
