Over the past week and a bit there has been more badminton games in the City of Yorkton then you could swing a racquet at.
There was an awful lot of badminton played here within the past five days.
The Saskatchewan High Schools Athletics Association(SHSAA) badminton action came to an end over the weekend-at least on the local scene.
Both teams, junior and senior from the Yorkton Regional High School and Sacred Heart High School, went at it, sometimes head-to-head in high school badminton action.
The Gr. 9s and some Gr. 10s played here last Tuesday afternoon, while Saturday showcased some of the best badminton players in the senior Grades go at it for close to five hours Saturday. In the senior matches, the YRHS had three different entries in competition. Darren Tillman, playing boys' singles, came out hard and finished fourth, Brittany Brenzen, coming off a strong district tournament at the Melville Comprehensive School heading into the Easter break, had a tough day this past Saturday on her home court. Her coach Randy Schuster said she popped an ankle very early that morning and that was it for her. The boys' doubles tag team of Adam Stokes and Michael Lockhart represented another good chance for the Regional to place in the top 2, did not quite make it that far, finishing in third.
Schuster said it was tough to go into the senior regional playdowns because nobody on the YRHS teams had a whole lot of practice time and with the Easter break, their practice time was cut down even more. He said in a week-and-a-half, the team held nine practices and played in five tournaments.
Down the street not 10 minutes away, Sacred Heart put forth a good effort, especially with girls' singles athlete Kylie Chupa taking her opponent to a third set but falling by two points; the winner advancing to provincials. Chupa was quite proud of her efforts Saturday. The boys' tag team of Mark Kuemper and Travis Inglis were all over the court too, placing in second following the round robin; coach Jim Grela said he was happy with their efforts too. Meanwhile the Saints' mixed duo of Bailee Skikewich and Troy Waggoner also placed in second through the round robin.
Grela said they beat Bellevue, 2-1, Normart, 2-1 and dropped two to Yellow Grass.
In junior play, SHHS's Morgan Shymanski ended up being the lone players to win four gold medals throughout the season and Rita Fetsch won gold at her first high school badminton tournament in early April. If there's anything you'd like to see covered by Game 7, please forward your suggestions to the Yorkton This Week sportsdesk by phone (306) 782-2465 or email jeff@yorktonthisweek.com
