BADMINTON DOUBLES TEAMS BRING HOME MEDALS FROM PROVINCIALS
Women's doubles team Courtney Brewer & Michelle Kozlowskyj won the bronze and the men's team of Eric Kern & Ethan Zhao won gold
The Georgian Grizzlies men's and women's badminton doubles teams competed at the 2018 OCAA Badminton Championships hosted by Mohawk College in Hamilton.
The men's doubles team of Ethan Zhao (China) and Eric Kern (Desparats) had a tremendous tournament at their final provincial championships as a duo.
In the round robin the team went 4-1 to finish in second place. Zhao and Kern then went on to a big match against the team of Gary Kwok Chun-Tin & Thanh Tran Lam from the University of Toronto-Mississauga in the semi-finals.
It was a tight match but the Grizzlies were able to come out on top winning the match 2-1 (21-19, 18-21, 21-15).
In the gold medal match Zhao and Kern battled hard but fell to the Humber Hawks team of Cameron Lai and Darcy Schmidt in two tight sets 21-12 and 21-15. The Humber team was the only one to beat the Grizzlies as Kern and Zhao finished with a silver medal.
With the second place finish Georgian's men's doubles team have qualified for the 2018 CCAA Badminton National Championships which take place Mar. 1 to Mar. 4 hosted by Concordia University of Edmonton.
Georgian's women's doubles team of Michelle Kozlowskyj (Garson) and Courtney Brewer (Manitouwadge) had an outstanding tournament of their own.
Kozlowskyj and Brewer went 4-1 in the round robin and finished in second place in the group.
In the tough draw the Grizzlies team drew the only team they lost to in round robin play in the Humber Hawks duo of Elizabeth Duong and Chloe Rowe. Georgian put up a good fight but fell 2-0 (21-15, 21-16).
The loss put the Grizzlies into the bronze medal final but they responded in a big way.
Facing the team of Holly Wong and Yu Chin Hsiaso from the University of Toronto-Mississauga, the Grizzlies were solid to take the match 2-0 (21-17, 21-13) as Kozlowskyj and Brewer won the bronze medal.