Badminton City Finals Recap

By Darren Brown and Pat Giommi For the 4th year in a row, the GNS Senior badminton team headed to the city finals in the B league last week. On the first night, the team put in a supremely gutsy effort against Reynold’s, who had beaten us 7-4 in our only other matchup this season. After 10 games we were tied 5-5, and it came down to the Boys B doubles to bring it home. MJ and David Huang faced some tough competition and lost the first set but battled back to win the 2nd set, forcing a 3rd and deciding set. Reynold’s quickly got up 7-0 on serves but the crew never lost faith. With some exceptional play and strategy, David and MJ took the 3rd set 23-21! Congratulations to the students that played on April 25 – Amelia Brown, Defne Tanyer, Jolina Ko, Tracy Lin, MJ Rakhura, David Huang, William Li, Poon Tantivorawong, Harry Zhang, and Alice Li. A special mention to the students that have played this year but were unable to join us for the match – Olivia Stupak, Leo Huang, Giulia Giommi, Stefanie Chen, Benny Blum, Tara Golonka, Erica Patrick. The following week, the Senior badminton competitive team travelled to Spectrum to compete in the B League City Finals. First, they faced the powerhouse Spectrum team in the semifinals. Although ultimately unsuccessful, the boys and girls battled hard against some very stiff competition. There were many great stories to share, but Harry Zhang taking the singles game to a 3rd set against one of the best in the city was a true highlight. Action on the other courts paused to watch Harry and his rival put on a clinic, and Harry came within 3 points (final set 21-18) of scoring the upset. As Spectrum moved on to the championship game against Lambrick, GNS was destined to face an old rival for the bronze… For the 3rd finals in a row, we squared off against PCS (our team won 1st in 2017, and took 3rd last year). Once again, we got the better of PCS, securing the bronze and once again relegating PCS to 4th place. It was a great afternoon of badminton, teamwork, and camaraderie between both teams. The GNS and PCS students have collectively made many great cross school friendships. Please take a moment in the following days to congratulate the following students who played – Harry Zhang, Alice Li, William Li, Poon Tantivorawong, David Huang, Robin Meng, MJ Rakhra, Jolina Ko, Defne Tanyer, and Amelia Brown.