The Competition Heats up in Stratford at the Second BLACK KNIGHT Jr A HP Tournament of the Year

Media Release October 24, 2017

STRATFORD – October 23, 2017 – The Stratford Badminton Club hosted the second tournament of the Black Knight Jr A HP Series. The weekend saw 146 athletes from across Ontario compete in the U11, U13, U15, U17, U19 categories.

The tournament saw many strong Ontario athletes participate such as U19 athlete Jailyn Joensen, who competes out of the KC Badminton Club. Joensen took time in between matches to speak to us on the increased level of competition in Ontario.

“I think that the level of competition in the province is gradually increasing, I have seen an increase of athletes participating in the sport at my gym and at tournaments as well. With more people active in badminton, this can only mean that the competition is increasing and getting tougher, but tougher in a good way.”

Joensen gave a strong showing this weekend being one of the three athletes who captured a triple crown title. Winning Gold in three categories, Joensen won in the U19 Girl’s Single, Girl’s Double and the Mixed Double events. Joensen credits her training and all the tournaments she competes at to her accomplishments.

“I train 5 days a week with an hour of fitness within each day and all this hard work has helped me over come tough matches. I also credit all the experience I have earned with each tournament I attend because tournaments like the one today teaches you how to cope with large amount of pressure so that you can reach the podium”

We also had opportunity to speak with Mandarin Badminton Club player Seth Lewis who praised the venue and the level of competition in not only the province but the country as well.

“The Burnside Agriplex Fieldhouse Sport complex here in Stratford is really good, the court space is great. It has the capacity to place fourteen courts with ample space to spare. The ceilings are nice and high, perfect to see the birds while you play. With such great venues like this one the level of competition can only grow as more athletes from not only my club but from our province is participating in the national and international circuits”

Each athlete performed to the best of their abilities and it showed as the competition this weekend was top notch. The competition is set to only increase as more and more athletes bring their game up to a new level for the next event. The following athletes are the triple and double crown winners of the tournament.

Triple Crown Winners:

U11 – Aileen Mi – KC Badminton Club

U15 – Victor Lai – Mandarin Badminton Club

U19 – Jailyn Joensen – KC Badminton Club

Double Crown Winners:

U11 – Oliver Chen – KC Badminton Club

U11 – Ricky Tao – KC Badminton Club

U13 – Chloe Lee – Mandarin Badminton Club

U17 – Thomas Dent – KC Badminton Club

U19 – Fernando Astan – KC Badminton Club

The Final Results have been posted on the Badminton Ontario website for your convenience. Badminton Ontario would like to thank Black Knight for its continued sponsorship of the Black Knight Jr HP Series. The next Black Knight Jr A HP tournament will be hosted by the Haber Community Centre on November 11, 2017.

Badminton Ontario (BON) is a not for profit amateur sport organization responsible for badminton within the province of Ontario. Badminton Ontario’s vision is to connect with all athletes participating in badminton in Ontario, inspire athletes to cherish badminton and establish it as their sport for life.

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Luis Paredes, Badminton Ontario