Portland State won the men’s singles competition while University of Oregon swept the women’s singles, men’s doubles and the mixed doubles titles at the Portland State Badminton Club’s 2010 Spring Tournament held at the ASRC on Saturday.
Ducks dominate badminton tournament
Portland State won the men’s singles competition while University of Oregon swept the women’s singles, men’s doubles and the mixed doubles titles at the Portland State Badminton Club’s 2010 Spring Tournament held at the ASRC on Saturday.
Portland State freshman Connor Nguyen, a finance major who finished second at Oregon’s badminton tournament earlier this year, defeated Portland IT analyst Harry Hermawan, 21-10, 21-11, in the men’s final.
“I just tried my best,” Nguyen said. “I haven’t been practicing that long and the final game was difficult. Harry’s backhand is awesome, so I had to change my strategy and keep on aiming at his forehand.”
Hermawan offered accolades for his opponent, and added that the lighting in the ASRC could have had an effect on his play.
“Connor played very well, but I couldn’t have done better. I couldn’t see the birdie because it was too bright. The facility is pretty good except for the light.”
The women’s singles competition was an all-Ducks affair. Oregon’s Yiwen He took three sets to overcome teammate Orie Fukuda, 14-21, 21-9, 21-15.
The men’s doubles final saw singles winner Nguyen team up with Portland State’s Tomo Muta. However, Oregon’s Huy Nguyen and Yasuhiro Hiraya won that match 26-24, 23-21. The mixed doubles final matchup was also dominated by Oregon, with Fukada and Hiraya coming up trumps against teammates He and Huy Nguyen, 12-21, 11-21.
This was the first tournament held at the newly opened ASRC. Although the glass walls at the ASRC allow for plenty of natural light on the court, this provided some difficulty for the players in spotting the birdie.
“The surface at the ASRC is newer and better but for playing competitively, the excess of light is a disadvantage,” Badminton Club President Cherie Nguyen said. “It’s too bright to see the birdie, and we don’t have enough curtains to cover up the area.”
The prizes for the tournament were sponsored by Li Ning, a badminton equipment company, which opened its first store in the U.S. here in Portland.
“The event went very smoothly,” Cherie Nguyen said. “We had a separate area for warm-up, so that saved a lot of time. We also had the professional sound people and a scoreboard.
“We will have another tournament in the fall, and we plan to open it up and have a lot more participants. Hopefully, it will be free for students of Portland State,” she said.
