By Scott Roblin

Junior high badminton stars shine at annual Mega Tournament

Apr 14, 2019 | 7:52 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – A sea of junior high athletes with racquets in hand invaded Notre Dame Academy for one of the largest badminton tournaments in the province over the weekend.

Hundreds of athletes from 32 different schools played over 1,000 games in the search of gold at the 2019 Mega Tournament hosted by both Notre Dame and St. Mary’s School.

One of the closest medal games came in the juvenile girls singles final, featuring defending midget girls champion Francine Suba out of Notre Dame and Irvine’s Kyla Fox.

Suba made a late push to close the gap to a couple of points, but Fox was able to hold off the late charge to take home the gold by a 21-19 final.

“It was hard but I don’t know, she’s really good,” said Fox. “I just kept deep and short, mixing it up.”

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Fox has been on a roll all season by winning every tournament she’s entered and is peaking ahead of the city championships, which will be held this week in Medicine Hat.

Medicine Hat will also be the site of the high school zones tournament, which will be played on Wednesday at Crescent Heights High and Medicine Hat High School.

In the Mega Tournament aggregate standings, Irvine School took home the championship with four golds and four bronzes.

St. Mary’s School and Brooks’ Christ the King School tied for second place with a pair of gold and silver medals each, while Notre Dame came up in fourth with one gold and seven total medals.

Here is a full list of medallists at the Mega Tournament:

Juvenile Boys Singles: Gold – Wyatt Davis (Brooks), Silver – Tyler Miller (St. Mary’s), Bronze – Rylan Jackson (Seven Persons)

Juvenile Girls Singles: Gold – Kyla Fox (Irvine), Silver – Francine Suba (Notre Dame), Bronze – Gwen Newberry (Kate Andrews)

Juvenile Boys Doubles: Gold – Brandon Granson & Dylan Granson (Kate Andrews), Silver – Carter Peers & Dahves Lauber (Duchess), Bronze – Rylan Millo & Kyler James (W.R. Myers)

Juvenile Girls Doubles: Gold – Brooke Robinson & Isabella Paoletti (Chinook), Silver – Baylie Grunewald & Kathleen Lanctot (Alexandra), Bronze – Libby Bourassa & Kailey Duchscherer (Notre Dame)

Juvenile Mixed Doubles: Gold – Antonina Dumanowski & Duncan Markie (St. Mary’s), Silver – Nash Sta. Maria & Presley Mueller (St. Mary’s – Taber), Bronze – Poncho Dyck & Susie Froese (Chamberlain)

Midget Boys Singles: Gold – Alan Janzen (Senator Gershaw), Silver – Anil Thakurdeen (Brooks), Bronze – Jackson Bowal (Notre Dame)

Midget Girls Singles: Gold – Samantha Racleb (St. Mary’s – Taber), Silver – Stephanie Flores (Christ the King), Bronze – Haylee Elhart (Irvine)

Midget Boys Doubles: Gold – Stas Khazov & Joel Lehr (Notre Dame), Silver – Mathias Werkentin & Alex Makarchuk (D.A. Ferguson), Bronze – Justin Jager & Noah Hakkes (Irvine)

Midget Girls Doubles: Gold – Rielle Blackman & Raylee Robinson (Irvine), Silver – Joanna Park & Eganetha Thiessen (Vauxhall), Bronze – Jordan Weisgerber & Kylee Waldegger (Notre Dame)

Midget Mixed Doubles: Gold – Kierra Zentner & Axton Ferguson (Irvine), Silver – Silas Currie & Audin Mettauer (Dr. Roy Wilson), Bronze – Breanna O’Neill & Caleb Garrecht (Notre Dame)

Bantam Boys Singles: Gold – Levi Munsch (Irvine), Silver – Ryder Siegers (Notre Dame), Bronze – Gerhard Knauer-Brava (Ecole les Cypres)

Bantam Girls Singles: Gold – Sofia Pachecl (Christ the King), Silver – Lena Bueckert (Burdett), Bronze – Addie Selk (Parkside)

Bantam Boys Doubles: Gold – Benedict Alfonso & Tom Ramos (Christ the King), Silver – Demetrio Garcia-Rivera & Diego Ramirez (Christ the King), Bronze – Jack Schottenbauer & Drew Thompson (Duchess)

Bantam Girls Doubles: Gold – Chloe Schlosser & Regine Simublan (St. Mary’s), Silver – Kadence Albrecht & Anna Schick (Schuler), Bronze – Ryeanna Jones & Quinn Olson (Irvine)

Bantam Mixed Doubles: Gold – Spencer Miller & Ella Dressel (Rosemary), Silver – Gian Dael & Kasen Ireland (St. Mary’s), Bronze – Grace Matthews & Tytan Heisler (Irvine)