Three of Edwin Parr Composite’s senior badminton players are heading to zones after medaling at the recent conference tournament.
The school sent 22 of its talented athletes to Westlock for the tournament last Tuesday, and though all of them played hard, only three earned the right to move on.
Raeanne Beach won the gold medal in junior girls singles while Michael Lindballe won gold in junior boys singles. Neil Topola also qualified, winning silver in intermediate boys singles.
EPC could have sent even more athletes to the medal round if not for the structure of the tournament. Both Lindballe and Topola had to play teammates in semi-final matchups (Robbie Mason and Ryan LeMessurier, respectively).
Lindballe edged Mason in a tight three-game match while Topola bested LeMessurier in another close match.
“Unfortunately only one could go on,” said team coach Erin Francis.
In his final, Lindballe lost the first game only to come back and win the next two, and the gold.
“He played so smart,” said Francis.
Meanwhile, Topola squared off with a familiar opponent who had beaten him at the same tournament last year. Both had improved a great deal, according to the coach, but ultimately the result was the same. Despite the loss, Topola earned a medal and will move on to the zone competition.
Beach was in a pool of seven girls and played 12 games in the round robin, posting a terrific 11-1 record. In the semi-final she edged the fourth-place girl 21-19 and 22-20 to move on to the final where she played a nerve-wracking game against a girl from Westlock.
The girls traded the advantage in three games, with Beach winning the first one and the last one (21-19, 23-25, 22-20) to bring home the gold.
“It was such an exciting match,” said Francis. “I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.”
The coach was very impressed with the efforts of the kids, especially those who had attended a Badminton Alberta camp at the school on the previous weekend.
Beach, Topola and Lindballe will now set their sights on zones, and if they do well enough there, they could go as far as provincials.
