Rymes, Kaur Continue Dominance in ACAC Badminton
EDMONTON, AB (February 7, 2022) – The Concordia University of Edmonton (CUE) Thunder badminton team continued their season on Sunday as the competed in the ACAC Badminton Tournament #2 hosted by NAIT. The Thunder entered this tournament in second place in the ACAC Team Event after a successful Tournament #1 three weeks ago.
The women’s singles bracket was once again dominated by the Thunder this weekend, as both Johnna Rymes and Jasleen Kaur finished in the top two spots once again. For Rymes, after receiving a first-round bye, she cruised through to the final with straight set wins in both the quarter- and semi-finals. Kaur also earned a first-round bye then won her first match in straight sets, and her semi-final in three sets to set up a meeting with her doubles teammate in the final. Rymes got the best of Kaur in the final, winning the women’s singles event without losing a set for the second event in a row. She is a perfect 6-0 on the season in matches and has yet to even lose a set. Kaur picks up her second straight second place finish as she adds to her own hardware and helps the Thunder pick up valuable points in the team event.
Rymes and Kaur teamed up for the women’s doubles event as they looked to repeat their first-place finish from the previous tournament. The Thunder duo kept their momentum going from the individual singles events as they cruised to the final. The momentum didn’t stop there as they won the final in straights over the Ledda/Wolski duo from The King’s University to pick up their second first place finish in as many tournaments.
In the men’s singles event, the Thunder had three athletes competing in the bracket. Brandon Morris, Salvador Robles-Gonzales and Johnathan Su all had hard fought first round matches, but all fell as they moved onto the consolation side of the bracket. Morris and Robles-Gonzales would ultimately meet in the consolation quarters, with Robles-Gonzales winning a tight match in straight sets before winning his semi-final to play in the 9th place match. Su also picked up wins in his consolation quarter- and semi-final matches to set up a meeting with his teammate Robles-Gonzales for 9th place. Robles-Gonzales got the best of Su in that match to finish in 9th place, with Johnathan Su coming in 10th. After his quarter-final loss, Morris was able to bounce back to win his final match to give him a 13th place finish in the men’s singles bracket.
For men’s doubles, Morris and Robles-Gonzales teamed up to be the Thunder entry. After falling in the first round, the pair bounced back and found their game on the consolation side, cruising through to a fifth-place finish.
The badminton returns to action in two weeks’ time, as they head to the 2022 ACAC Badminton Championship hosted by Olds College February 19-20.