Led by the veteran coach Abdul Shaikh of Vancouver and supported by manager Lisa Davison of Prince George, the following athletes will be representing us and British Columbia at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax from February 19th to February 28th:
One of the biggest wins of the day took place in mixed doubles where Nathan Choi (Vancouver) and Christin Tsai (Richmond), seeded 5/8, upset 3/4 seeds Darren Hong and Adrianna Guiffre of Alberta in the quarter-finals, and secured themselves a medal by defeating number two seeds Nyl Yakura and Alex Bruce of Ontario 21-17, 21-15.
"We were really pleased with how we played today. In both our matches, we stayed focused on our attacking play, and didn't let any lost rallies distract us from our overall game plan. We are not just satisfied by getting to the final--we are focused on challenging for a Gold medal on Wednesday," said Choi and Tsai.
Eric Hsu (Surrey), Phyllis Chan (Vancouver) secured a shot at Bronze by making the semi-finals with a victory over Peter Bulter and Bethany So from Ontario 21-13, 21-14, but fell short to top seeds Phillippe Charron and Caroline Beauregard from Quebec in the semi-finals 18-21, 17-21.
Choi and Tsai will battle Charron and Beauregard for Gold with Hsu and Chan against Yakura and Bruce for Bronze at 9:00 am.
Team BC has another shot at gold--this time in women's singles where number two seed Phyllis Chan (Vancouver) lived up to her seeding by defeating 5/8 seed Tracy Wong in the quarter-finals and then 3/4 seed Stephanie Pakenham in the semi-finals 21-14, 21-17.
In the top half of the draw, Christin Tsai (Richmond) lost a hard fought battle with top seed Michelle Li from Ontario 21-14, 21-15. Tsai beat Bethany So from Ontario in the quarter-finals 21-14, 21-4. Chan will battle Li for Gold and Tsai will play Pakenham for Bronze at 10:00 am.
In men's singles quarter-finals,Clinton Wong (Burnaby) was defeated by top seed Alex Pang from Alberta 14-21, 7-21 and Benny Lin (Vancouver) was defeated in two close games by 3/4 seed Martin Guiffre of Alberta 21-17, 21-18.
In men's doubles, Duncan Yao (Richmond) and Benny Lin (Vancouver) lost to 3/4 seeds Guiffre and Pang from Alberta 21-17, 21-13 in the quarter-finals.
In women's doubles, Vivian Yan (Victoria) and Vanora Lo (Vancouver) were defeated by 3/4 seeds Kadam and Wong from Ontario 21-14, 21-13 in the quarter-finals.
Coach Abdul Shaikh (Vancouver) was really pleased with the performance of his team today. "Regardless of win or loss, our team fought to the end in each and every match. For me, the highlight of the day was Nathan (Choi) and Christin's (Tsai) two victories today, over two teams expected to beat them. I'm really looking forward to all our medal chances. We could walk away with two Golds and two Bronze medals. Go TEAM BC!"
Today is Gold and Bronze medal action in the individual events, followed by the beginning of team competition tomorrow on Thursday, Feb. 24.
Canada Games Gold for Choi & Tsai
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Nathan Choi and Christin Tsai won the Gold medal at the 2011 Canada Games in Mixed Doubles. They made the final by beating both the 3/4 seed and the #2 seed and beat the #1 seeded team from Quebec in three games.
Phyllis Chan won silver and Christin Tsai won bronze in Women's Singles.
The individual events finished earlier today and the team event begins tomorrow.
To see the Canada Games draws and results, click here.
Team BC earns Silver in Team Event
In pool play, Team BC consisting of a number of young players, beat a tough Alberta squad which included nationally-ranked Open players. In the pool cross-over, Eric Hsu and Clinton Wong beat the Individual Men's Doubles Gold Medalists, Phillipe Charron and Phillipe Gaumond, in the Team Men's Doubles to help take Team BC into the final against Ontario.
In the Gold Medal match, Canada Games veteran Phyllis Chan, won both the Women's Doubles and the Mixed Doubles with Christin Tsai and Nathan Choi, respectively, against Ontario. But the #1 ranked Michelle Li of Ontario was too much for Tsai in the Women's Singles match. Clinton Wong put up a great fignt against nationally-ranked Joseph Rogers by a score of 11-21, 21-17, 16-21.
This is an amazing result for Team BC and congratulations to these great players!
