Mounties Badminton Remain Undefeated Through First Semester
On November 22nd-23rd, the Mount Allison Badminton team were in Halifax for ACAA regular season play. The Mounties won the weekend in a dominant manner with 90 points.
The Mounties shined in the Mixed Doubles division. The defending champion duo of Mike Ta and Tallulah MacNeil fought hard to the semi-final, losing in 3 sets against UNBSJ's Vaibhav Bhatta and Nihma Hussain. On the other side of the draw, fellow Mounties Wilson Paluch and Brenell Enman also battled a pair of Seawolves, Arshath Vaheed and Addison McClune, coming up just short.
In Women's Doubles, a new duo of Tallulah MacNeil and Azaniah Gepiga moved to the Quarterfinals but were defeated by the reigning champions Ritu Shah and Rosalyne Smith of UKC.
On the Men's Doubles side, Mike Ta changed partners and paired with rookie Tony Su. Ta and Su dominated on their way to the Finals, beating top teams from UKC in the Quarterfinals and the Cote Twins from Dal Rams in the Semifinals, another fiercely competitive match that saw the Mounties move on to the finals after three sets. On the opposite side of the draw, the rookie pairing of defending Champion David Kim and Nathanial White kept their composure all the way to the finals; the first all Mountie Final of the year. Ta and Su came out hot, with immense pace and composure, they kept the pressure on all game, but the powerful attack from Kim quickly punished any mistakes, and the fast reactions of White kept the rookie duo in every rally. It was a back-and-forth game, with Mike Ta and Tony Su coming out on top, for Ta's second Men's Doubles victory of the year.
In Women's Singles, Brenell Enman remains a consistent standout for the Mounties. Making her way to the Semi-finals, where she faced 3x national Gold Medalist and former national player of the year, UKC's Ritu Shah. After a tough match, Enman was defeated in two sets.
The phenomenal performance from all athletes on the Men's Singles side left this as the highest point earning event of the weekend, despite missing out on first place. Tony Su faced Vaibhav Bhatta in the quarter final falling in two sets. The Seawolf Bhatta then advanced to the semi-final, where he faced Mountie David Kim. In another great match, Bhatta advanced to the final in two sets. Wilson Paluch took on Mountie teammate Noah MacIssac in a highly anticipated Semi-final matchup, battling for a shot at Vaibhav in the finals. In two sets of furious up and down points, Paluch walked away with the win with his sights set on his first tournament win. In the finals he fell in two sets.
With this tournament result, the Mounties retain their national ranking into the new year. ACAA Badminton action resumes at the UNBSJ tournament on Saturday, January 17th.
Recap courtesy of Mounties Athletics