Badminton team ready for home debut

The Swift Current Comp. badminton team split up to attend tournaments in Leader and Ponteix on Saturday. The Colts and Ardens brought home a total of five medals from the two tournaments.

Swift Current athletes had the most success in Leader where they brought home three silver medals and one bronze. Grade 10 Sim Singh won silver in Boys Singles. He finished first in the round robin with a 4-0 record and then defeated Maple Creek in the semi-final (21-12, 21-12). He lost in three sets to Fox Valley in the championship match (10-21, 22-20, 16-21).

Zac Nickel and Kyle Tisdale won silver in Boys Doubles. They won their pool with a 4-0 record and then lost to Eston in the final (14-21, 14-21).

The grade 11 duo of Kahlan Ellertson and Tyler Wall also won silver in Mixed Doubles. They placed second in the round robin with a 2-1 record before upending Leader in the semi-final (14-21, 21-18, 22-20). They lost to Fox Valley in the championship match.

MaryAnn Gonzales and Hayley Bitz won bronze in Girls Doubles. They placed first in the round robin with a 2-0 record before defeating Maple Creek in the quarter-final (21-12, 12-21, 22-20). They lost the semifinal to Eston (11-21, 10-21) and then beat Fox Valley for bronze (21-8, 21-15).

Grade 10 Sydney Hope placed fourth in Girls Singles. She was 1-1 in the round robin, defeated Hazlet in the quarter-final, and then lost to Leader in the semi-final. Hope took on an Eston athlete in the bronze medal match and lost (14-21, 13-21).

The Colts and Ardens were also in Ponteix where they had their best results in Mixed Doubles from Jaylyn Bell and Ethan Warkentine.

The grade 10 pair finished the tournament undefeated, including a 4-0 record in the round robin, followed by a win over Pon- teix in the final (24-22, 2725) to claim gold.

Grade nine Quinn Hodges finished 2-3 to place fourth in Boys Singles. Grade nine Jessica Warren also finished 2-3 and placed fourth in Girls Singles. Grade 10's Wyatt Wiebe and Michael Sisa finished with a 3-3 record to place fourth in Boys Doubles.

The grade nine team of Raizelle Sangalang and Abby de Gala placed sixth in Girls Doubles.

The Colts and Ardens will be hosting a 10-team tournament on Saturday that will begin at 9:30 a.m. Teams from Gravelbourg, Ponteix, Frontier, Rosetown, Elrose, Maple Creek, Leader, Gull Lake, and Eston will be joining the Colts and Ardens.