The Carlmont Scots varsity badminton team rose over the Aragon Dons, winning 20-10, on Tuesday, March 10.
These 20 points were scored over a series of 15 matches consisting of six categories: boys doubles, girls doubles, boys singles, girls singles, and mixed doubles.
Carlmont walked into the match feeling nervous, as last year they lost to the Dons, which resulted in them finishing second in the league instead of first. This year, though, Carlmont’s hard work paid off, and they came out on top, maintaining their undefeated streak.
One match in particular that was pleasantly surprising for the Scots was the boys double, with Morgan Li and Bryant Hu playing against two boys from Aragon.
“I think we did pretty well this match. Particularly we did not expect our boys double to win the game, but we did it, so I’m very, very happy,” said Victoria Shai, Carlmont’s head coach.
This match in particular, Shai did not have high hopes for, stating that she was not expecting the win. One of their opponents was an undefeated senior, and with Hu and Li both being sophomores, the win was one of the proudest moments of the night.
This match consisted of three sets, ending 21-14, 16-21, and 21-15, with Li and Hu winning two sets to one. Li and Hu stated this was a very intense game and required a lot of focus and teamwork to come out on top.
“We tried our hardest, and it paid off,” Li said.
Aragon coach Martin Chan was upset but not completely surprised by Carlmont’s win. Though like Shai, he was not expecting Carlmont to win the boys’ doubles match.
“We did okay, not as well as I hoped, but we did well. We were surprised to lose, but in hindsight, it wasn’t that surprising because they were really good,” Chan said.
After the game, Shai was happy with the performance, looking forward to the rest of the season with the team.
“I think that we have a very strong team this year with nine freshmen girls who perform very well. We have a lot of confidence going into the rest of the season,” Shai said.
