麻豆社区

Badminton enthusiasts spent the weekend smashing birdies at the 2015 Yukon Championships.

About 40 competitors 鈥� ranging in age from youth to adult 鈥� gathered at Porter Creek Secondary School to compete for a variety of territorial titles.

While the turnout was down remarkably from previous years, tournament director Peter Toth said it was still an exciting weekend.

鈥淯nfortunately, the turnout was not as we expected due to scheduling conflicts,鈥濃�坔e told the Star. 鈥淟ast year, we had 80 entrants, and in years before that we expected 100 to 120 people.

鈥淭he Yukon is blessed to have availability in any sport, which can be good and bad,鈥� Toth added. 鈥淏adminton is a relatively small sport.鈥�

The Yukon Badminton Association, which has a focus on pre-teen players, doesn鈥檛 focus solely on skill-building, he explained.

鈥淪ports is a great way to build patience and learn a lot about yourself.鈥�

When the dust settled Sunday, Toth found himself a winner in two events.

He and Kataya Ulrich won the open mixed doubles competition. Toth and Seth Rotondi then teamed up to win the open men鈥檚 doubles title.

In other adult play, Harry Guss won the open men鈥檚 singles crown over runner-up Jon Pan.

In youth play, Ritik Sharma was the big winner over the weekend, taking home three title wins 鈥� including the boys U14 singles crown over up-and-coming hockey player Bryce Anderson.

Sharma then teamed up with his older brother, Mannie, to win the boys U16 doubles contest.

He also claimed the youth mixed doubles competition alongside his younger brother Rohit 鈥� defeating Mannie and Alison Hill for family bragging rights.

Other youth winners included Carl Knickle (boys U16 singles), Abigail Cuenza (girls U16 singles) and Mia Greenough alongside Kataya Ulrich (girls U16 doubles).

For anyone interested in the sport, the Whitehorse Badminton Club meets at Takhini Elementary School multiple nights a week.