By Kurt Tempelmans Plat
If you've ever wondered what sports North Bay has to offer, make sure to take a walk down memory lane and remember badminton...a gym class classic. If badminton is what you fancy, then you've come to the right city. North Bay takes their badminton seriously. Within the programs offered by KTP Athletics, athletes of all ages and skill levels can play up to 6 days per week, making it a leading badminton provider in Northern Ontario.
The North Bay Badminton Team was back at it in full force Oct 27-28 in Sudbury for the first Northern Ontario Badminton Association (NOBA) tournament of the season. The team brought 24 athletes to the tournament to compete in U14, U16 and U19 events. The team may have brought 24 athletes to the tournament, but coming back to North Bay they brought 32 medals.
"When I started this team five years ago, I never thought we would have grown this much, and yet here we are with over 20 kids competing across the province, and training as much as they want." said head coach Kurt Tempelmans Plat about his experience running the North Bay Badminton Team. "I told the kids coming into the tournament to treat this completely as a practice event. It's the first tournament of the season for the team, and is a good opportunity for the kids to focus on developing skills and implementing new strategies. From what I saw, they did exactly that, and I could not be any happier with the team's performance."
The North Bay Badminton Team also made it's way to the Timmins Jr NOBA tournament earlier in November. The team brought a small contingent, but never-the-less the team represented North Bay well as it always does. The tournament drew over 100 athletes from Timmins, Sudbury, North Bay, Kirkland Lake and Hearst.
Congratulations to all athletes, with a special shout out to Zakari Dufresne-Nappert that came home with 2 gold medals, and Dillon Laberge who captured 3 silver medals. The team brought home a total of 19 medals.
KTP Athletics invites everyone to their annual KTP Athletics Open tournament, being hosted on January 5-6 in North Bay. This is an adult tournament, which offers multiple divisions to appease players of all skill levels. To learn more, please visit www.ktpathletics.com.
Pharand Competing with Canada's Best
Gabriel Pharand is one of Ontario's top badminton athletes, and he hails from right here in North Bay! He is currently ranked 17th in U19 Boys Singles, and 17th in U19 Boys Doubles in Ontario. He also finds himself among the top 45 U19 Boys in Canada.
Earlier in October, Pharand made his way to Stratford to compete in a Badminton Ontario Jr A tournament. He put on a solid performance, taking in the weekend as it was his first competitive event of the season. Pharand earned himself a quarter-final finish in singles (where he lost to the eventual tournament champion), he also won consolation doubles and earned a bronze medal in the mixed doubles event.
The following week, Pharand made his way to Alberta to compete in the Yonex Alberta Elite Series event. He managed a win in both singles and doubles, and lost a close three game match in mixed doubles. Although not finishing on the podium, this event proved a valuable experience and will help him prepare for the rest of the upcoming season.
To learn more about badminton programs in North Bay for all ages, visit www.ktpathletics.com.
Sudbury Results
U14BS
1 - Ryan O'Donnell
2 - Zakari Dufresne-Nappert
3 - David Rojas Reid
4 - Anton Stencill
5 - Paul Fuzy
3B - Jesse Remillard
4B - Cole Bottoms-Cau
U14GS
3 - Victoria Gadomski
5 - Mariyah Kazi
U16GS
3 - Jazlyn McGuinty
1B - André Courchesne
5B - Maryssa Mercier
5B - Savanna Swearengen
U16BS
1 - Marco Brazeau
4 - Pierre Legrand
7 - Zachary Kizell
2B - Daniel Kerr
U19BS
5 - Dillon Laberge
5 - Nicholas Babich
7 - Brady Fougère
U19GS
2 - Marina Sinicrope
7 - Jewel Ng
2C - Sam Derosier
U14BD
1 - Ryan O'Donnell/David Rojas Reid
2 - Zakari Dufresne-Nappert/Jesse Remillard
3 - Paul Fuzy/partner
1B - Anton Stencill/Cole Bottoms-Cau
U14GD
1 - Victoria Gadmoski/partner
U16BD
1 - Marco Brazeau/Pierre Legrand
2 - Zachary Kizell/partner
1B - Daniel Kerr/partner
U16GD
1 - Carly Perrin/partner
2 - Jazlyn McGuinty/Andrée Courchesne
3B - Maryssa Mercier/Savanna Swearengen
U19BD
2 - Dillon Laberge/Nicholas Babich
4 - Brady Fougère/partner
U19GD
1 - Marina Sinicrope/partner
1B - Jewel Ng/partner
U14XD
2 - Zakari Dufresne-Nappert/partner
3 - Ryan O'Donnell/Victoria Gadomski
5 - David Rojas Reid/Mariyah Kazi
4B - Paul Fuzy/partner
U16XD
2 - Pierre Legrand/Jazlyn McGuinty
3 - Marco Brazeau/Andrée Courchesne
5 - Savanna Swearengen/Zachary Kizell
2B - Carly Perrin/partner
4B - Daniel Kerr/Maryssa Mercier
5B - Cole Bottoms-Cau/partner
2C - Anton Stencill/partner
U19XD
5 - Nicholas Babich/Marina Sinicrope
7 - Brady Fougère/Jewel Ng
3B - Sam Derosier/partner
Timmins Results
U14GS
2nd - Victoria Gadomski
2nd B - Chloe Popp
U14BS
1 - Zakari Dufresne-Nappert
2 - Davied Rojas Reid
U14GD
3 - Victoria Gadomski/partner
4 - Chloe Popp/partner
U14BD
1 - Zakari Dufresne-Nappert/David Rojas Reid
U14XD
3 - David Rojas Reid/Victoria Gadomski
4 - Chloe Popp/Zakari Dufresne-Nappert
U16GS
1B - Maryssa Mercier
2C - Carly Perrin
3C - Savanna Swearengen
U16BS
1 - Zachary Kizell
U16 GD
1 - Carly Perrin/partner
2C - Maryssa Mercier/Savanna Swearengen
U16BD
4B - Zachary Kizell/partner
U16XD
3 - Carly Perrin/partner
4 - Maryssa Mercier/partner
5 - Savanna Swearengen/Zachary KizellU19BS
2 - Dillon Laberge
3 - Nicholas Babich
5 - Brady Fougère
U19BD
2 - Dillon Laberge/Nicholas Babich
4 - Brady Fougère/partner
U19GD
3 - Marina Sinicrope/partner
U19XD
2 - Dillon Laberge/partner
5 - Nicholas Babich/Marina Sinicrope
7 - Brady Fougère/partner
