A big win during last week's Golden Birdie Cup tournament turned into Bulldog glory.
The annual badminton match between Bellerose and the Paul Kane Blues took place on April 21. The fierce action ended with a victory for the team in burgundy. The win brought the annual rivalry back onto an even keel.
"Over the past six meetings, PK has won three and Bellerose has won three. Overall series is tied," said a pleased Geoffrey Howard, one of Bellerose's badminton coaches.
The Golden Birdie Cup is an annual badminton tournament that provides student athletes an opportunity to play in multiple events and partner with players from the opposing school. The last match held in 2020 went to PK. There was no Golden Birdie awarded in 2021 because of the ongoing pandemic.
The 2022 Bulldog victory came when Kiera Atkinson defeated PK's Ishana Woo with a score of 11-9 in a sudden victory match.
The friendly competition is designed for community building between the two clubs, said Howard.
"This is a challenge format where athletes can play as many different events and matches as they like."
This year’s tournament was split into both a competitive and friendly format. For the competitive matches, each school competes in men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles for a total of five events. In high school play, the winning school wins at least three events.
The method by which the Golden Birdie Cup is awarded involves randomly selecting one event where the participants play a sudden victory match, Howard said. The winner of that match wins the Cup for their school.
This year’s Cup was decided by the winner of the women’s wingles match.
Both teams also handed out three individual awards for the tournament.
The Taking Flight Awards for best newcomers went to Josh Mah of PK and Avery Lyon of Bellerose. PK's Charlotte Tombs and Cam Knisely of Bellerose each received The Greasy Bird Award for best individual shot of the tournament. Lastly, the Golden Crispy Awards for significant contribution that may not have been recognized gave Stuti Maikotia of PK and Bellerose's Bronson Wicks a chance to shine, too.
