SUMMERSIDE – Luke MacKinnon and Ruiwen Zhu captured two titles each to lead the field of 23 players in the first Badminton P.E.I. senior event of the 2018-19 season at Three Oaks Senior High School in Summerside recently.
MacKinnon won men's singles and teamed with Paul Marchbank to also claim men's doubles. Zhu won women's singles and the doubles title with partner Alex Zheng.
Men’s singles
The 14-man competition in men’s singles was fierce, with eight of the 13 main-round matches going to either extra points or a third game to decide the winner, including three of the four quarter-finals.
When the semifinals were finally set, MacKinnon prevailed over Jesse Cameron in a great battle by scores of 23-21, 21-17. In the other semifinal, Daniel Breau got past Jordan Cameron in a close one, 24-22, 21-19.
The final match featured MacKinnon take early leads, but Breau battled back. Both players showed terrific shot-making and footwork, but, eventually, MacKinnon took top honours, 22-20, 21-19.
In the consolation round, Yihan Zhang needed three games to win each of his three matches in taking the title.
Men’s doubles
In men's doubles, MacKinnon/Marchbank reached the finals with a semifinal win over Spencer Gallant/Alex Zheng, 21-14, 21-6. Jesse Cameron/Jordan Cameron lost the opening game, but came back to win a tough semifinal over Daniel Breau/Neil Moore. Scores were 16-21, 21-10, 21-15.
There were some amazing rallies in the entertaining final, but MacKinnon/Marchbank prevailed after losing the opening game – 19-21, 21-19, 21-12.
Breau/Moore took the consolation title.
Women’s singles
In women's singles, it was a four-way round-robin event, with Zhu comfortably winning her three matches. Emma Hughes won two matches to finish in second place, and Hayden Ford came third with her win over Ziqi Liu.
Women’s doubles
In women's doubles, it was another four-way round robin. This time, Ford/Hughes teamed up to capture the title with three wins, including a marathon victory over Mary Cote/Pauline Hamlin, 21-16, 25-27, 21-9.
Cote/Hamlin came second with two wins, including a hard-fought 22-20, 21-13, 24-22 win over Adelle Breau/Ruiwen Zhu. Breau/Zhu were third with their win over Liu/Torey MacDonald.
Mixed doubles
A sizeable field of eight teams competed in mixed doubles. Zheng/Rhu registered a semifinal win over Marchbank/Hamlin, 21-15, 21-13. Jordan Cameron/Hughes persevered over Breau/ Cote to win their semifinal, 21-18, 9-21, 21-11.
While the finals had some good rallies, Zheng/Zhu sailed through for the title, 21-11, 21-12. Yinxiao Chen/Ford needed extra points to win the consolation final over Logan Woods/MacDonald, 24-22, 21-14.