Team BC loses first match to Team Alberta

BC lost its first matches of the competition when both James Ho and Joshua Liu were defeated in their respective men’s singles matches. Both matches went to three sets.

Kylie Cheng (Vancouver) followed with a loss to Alberta’s Kyleigh O’Donoghue ((7-21, 16-21). Jenna Wong turned it around for BC, winning her singles match against Alberta’s Eyota Kwan with scores of 21-17 and 21-16.

“The team was really counting on me to win those games so I’m happy I could perform,” said Wong.

“Jenna played some excellent games and she should be very proud of herself, especially for her first multi-sport games experience,” said head coach Abdul Shaik (Vancouver).

Together with partner Samantha Zheng (Vancouver), Wong also won her women’s doubles match of the day. The team went 21-13 and 22-20, keeping their composure in a tight last set. Qingzi Ouyang (Delta) and Cheng made up the other women’s doubles team for the day, and lost a close match in three sets (24-22, 19-21, and 10-21).

Mixed doubles team Liu and Ouyang also lost in three sets (15-20, 22-20 and 4-21) to end the day of competition.

“Today didn’t go as well as we’d hoped but it was a good way to test the waters against Alberta,” said Wong. “I think we’ll be okay if everyone performs well tomorrow, and I’m confident in our team.”

BC and Alberta will meet again in the gold medal match tomorrow at 8:30am. Wong said she’s excited, but she’s looking forward to something else first.

“Dinner. I love the food here. I look forward to dinner every day.”