P.E.I. athletes shine at Atlantic tournament

Including first-place showings

The first Atlantic badminton tournament of 2018 took place recently in Moncton, and over 20 athletes represented P.E.I. at the Yonex Guy Martin tournament.

Spencer Gallant captured his first Atlantic region title, winning the under-15 boys’ singles category. Meanwhile, in the same division, Junming Feng captured a bronze medal. Feng also obtained a third-place finish in under-15 boys’ doubles with partner YinXiao Chen.

In under-17 boys’ singles, Alex Zheng had a strong showing reaching the final, where he lost a tight three-set match and came away with a silver medal. Zheng then partnered with Gallant to win the under-17 boys’ doubles consolation.

Cici Huo, playing in her first Atlantic region tournament, managed to capture a sliver medal in under-17 girls’ doubles.

In the Adult Open B category, Yu Chen and Bo Jiang teamed up to capture a silver medal in mixed doubles while Sam Pan and Leon Fu had a second-place finish in the men’s doubles consolation.

Sam Yuan had a very impressive showing in winning the men’s singles B category at the age of 13. Yu Chen made it to the semifinals in Open B. Yuan also teamed up with Karla McCallum to win under17 mixed doubles, and his brother, Leon Yuan, to win under-15 boys’ doubles, respectively.

In Open A men’s singles, Jack Ronahan had a strong performance, winning his opening match versus Leigh Thibideau in three games, before he was eventually eliminated. Ronahan partnered with Ruiwen Zhu in the mixed doubles discipline. The pair played well, but lost in the second round.

Also noteworthy is the P.E.I. team of David Pan and Emma Hughes winning the mixed doubles A consolation. In addition, Zhu and McCallum won the women’s doubles consolation. Badminton P.E.I. and its clubs are very proud of all the athletes who participated, and hope to continue the recent string of success they have had in 2018.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Spencer Gallant, centre, of P.E.I. finished first in under-15 boys’ singles at the Yonex Guy Martin badminton tournament in Moncton, N.B., recently. New Brunswick’s Benjamin Culligan, left, finished second and Junming Feng of P.E.I. was third.

SUBMITTED PHOTO The P.E.I. brother team of Leon, left, and Sam Yuan won the boys’ doubles competition at the Yonex Guy Martin badminton tournament in Moncton, N.B., recently.