Barkhouse, McCallum shine
Birchwood seniors and masters tournament held recently
Justin Barkhouse and Karla McCallum starred at the recent P.E.I. Badminton Association Birchwood seniors and masters tournament. Barkhouse won the men’s doubles and mixed doubles to become the only double winner out of 33 competitors. McCallum won women’s singles, even though she doesn’t turn 14 until late May. Kevin Yan claimed the men’s singles title.
With 11 teams in men’s doubles, Barkhouse and Mark Brown defeated David Pan/ Jack Ronahan in the semifinals 21-12, 21-5. Neil Moore/James Richardson topped Daniel Breau/Leon Fu 21-13, 21-13 in the other half of the draw to advance to the final. Although the final was very tough, Barkhouse/Brown walked away victorious 21-12, 17-21, 21-10.
In an entertaining mixed doubles event, Barkhouse teamed with Carrie Drake to defeat the No. 2 seeds, Brown/ Pauline Hamlin 21-16, 21-13 in one semifinal. Top-seeded Moore/Keirstyn Hamlin got by David Cozens/Kristyn Visser 21-18, 19-21, 21-12 to make it to the final.
There was a keen battle of drop shots and smashes in a close match, but Barkhouse/ Drake prevailed 19-21, 21-19, 21-14.
Singles
In women’s singles, McCallum continued the impressive play she’s shown all season. With her win over Alyssa Jo Bernard, she advanced to play Emma Hughes. Despite losing a fierce opening game, McCallum rebounded to win the next two of the close match 19-21, 21-11, 21-19.
On the other side of the draw, Ruiwen Zhu battled Visser in a tight, well-matched semifinal. Zhu prevailed after losing the opening game – 19-21, 21-16, 21-16. Zhu then withdrew from the final before it started, giving McCallum the title.
In men’s singles, Yan defeated Neil Moore in a closely
contested battle 21-18, 21-19 in one semifinal. Brown overcame a determined effort by Daniel Breau to win the other semifinal 21-19, 21-18.
While the final featured great
smashes and skill shots from both players, Yan pulled off the win 21-15, 21-19.
Women’s doubles
With only three teams taking part in women’s doubles, the competitive round-robin event featured Hughes/Visser winning both of their games to clinch top spot. They defeated McCallum/Zhu 21-17, 15-21, 21-19, and Keirstyn Hamlin/ Pauline Hamlin 22-20, 21-18, 21-12. McCallum/Zhu defeated the Hamlins 21-18, 21-17 to claim second place.
Masters
The round robin of four masters (40-plus) in men’s singles showed great play as well, with Tianjun Li going 3-0 (won-lost). Lid posted wins over over Pete Peters, Alex Jamieson and Leon Fu. Li’s win over Fu did take him three games, after losing the second – 21-15, 19-21, 21-16. Fu placed second at 2-1, and a tight 24-22, 21-17 victory over Peters gave Jamieson third place.