The St. Albert brother and sister act of Ty and May-Lee Lindeman are rising stars on the badminton stage.
Ty played a major role in Alberta capturing the U14 division title at the recent Western Canadian Team Championships in Vancouver by posting a winning record in match play.
He also joined May-Lee on the medal podium at the 10th annual United States Badminton Development Federation Winter Junior International Championships in Los Angeles.
"It's been going pretty good," said Ty, the number-one ranked U14 male in Alberta in singles, doubles and mixed doubles.
The Grade 8 Lorne Akins Gator joined forces with James Ho of Vancouver to grab gold in U15 doubles in California.
"It ranks right up there," Ty said of his first international medal. "The competition was much more difficult than at the national level."
In the final the duo rallied to defeat the United States tandem of Bryan Chow and Justin Ma 10-21, 21-18, 21-17.
"It was great. We weren't favoured at all to win it," Ty said.
They finished 4-0 (8 GW/3 GL) despite limited playing time together.
"We did pretty good. We knew how to move together. If he went somewhere I would go somewhere else so I wasn't in his way," Ty said.
Triple-medal winner
May-Lee, 19, brought home silver in doubles and bronze in singles and mixed doubles in the U22 division.
"It was exciting," said the Bellerose Composite High School graduate.
In mixed doubles she competed with Eric Kuo from Los Angeles.
"I requested a partner for mixed doubles and he ended up being my partner. He was really nice and it was fun to play with him. It's always cool to meet new people too," May-Lee said. "I've played in enough tournaments with people I don't know so it wasn't a problem. He was a pretty good player so it was easy to make it work."
In singles May-Lee swept her opening two matches before losing the next two in similar fashion.
"It was challenging to play singles at such a big tournament," said the second-year nursing student at Grant MacEwan University. "There were some really good girls and I haven't been doing that much singles the last couple of years. I've focused more on doubles and mixed doubles more."
In doubles the Royal Glenora Club pairing of May-Lee and Lisa Chan placed second at 2-1 (4 GW/2 GL).
"She is a couple of years younger than me so we haven't played in too many junior tournaments together," May-Lee said. "She is fun to play with and it's always nice to play with a friend."
The medal haul was the latest accomplishment for May-Lee. In 2009 she represented Canada in mixed doubles with Clinton Liu at the World Junior Championships in Malaysia and the Pam American Junior Championships in Puerto Rico.
"Junior worlds was really cool. I've never been to a tournament that was so big with people who were that good," May-Lee said. "The Pan-Am games was a lot of fun and the competition was real good."
At junior worlds, May-Lee and Liu suffered a first-round loss to Germany.
"A big part of it was just being nervous. It was our first really big tournament and you don't play as well as you expect," she said. "It was fairly different. There was a lot of countries that don't speak English. The venue was huge and there was actually a lot of spectators, which was cool, because usually badminton doesn't get a lot of people out to watch the games."
At the Pan-Am games, May-Lee and Liu were swept by Peru in the gold medal match. Their overall record in the U19 bracket was 4-1 (8 GW/4 GL).
"I was very happy and really surprised," said May-Lee, a provincial and national medallist in 2010. "The first match was real hard because you're nervous, and then after that you get into the groove and you just play."
Last year Ty qualified for the Pan-Am games in the Dominican Republic in U15 singles.
"I lost my first round to the number two seed in three games," he said. "It was my first international event and it was pretty nerve-racking but I learned a lot."
Red Willow alumni
Ty and May-Lee started bashing birdies at an early age at the Red Willow Badminton Club and now train at the Royal Glenora.
"It's fun and I like to keep active," May-Lee said. "It's a unique sport. There isn't a lot of people who play it. I have a lot of friends in the sport now so it's good for socializing too."
Ty is hooked on the dynamics of the sport.
"It's fun and athletic. Most people go into hockey or soccer but not me," said the multiple-championship winner at provincials. "I can run a lot, which really helps because you have to be able to get there to hit the birdie. I guess that's what I do best."
