Muskie ‘birders’ come up short of medals at OFSAA

It was a familiar story for Fort High’s badminton contingent at the all-Ontarios in Sudbury.
Running into some of the best competition the province has to offer, the senior boys’ duo of Tim Desjardins and Rory Bagacki made a valiant effort before being eliminated in the ‘B’ flight Friday afternoon.

“I’m happy with their performance and they are happy with how they played,” Muskie coach Manami Alexander said.
“They pushed to their limits, and had less than a year to prepare as a doubles team because Tim was with Jamie [Jensen] before, so it was a really big accomplishment going as far as they did,” she added.
Alexander said she was proud of the effort Desjardins put forth in his third and final OFSAA appearance.
“He really showed the level of experience and skills he’s got over the years, and really led the team,” she enthused.
“Rory is two or three years younger, and Tim really helped develop [Rory’s] skills and it was nice that Rory got to go to OFSAA with an experienced player.”
Desjardins and Bagacki won their first match in the ‘B’ flight Friday morning against Garrett Duff and Hans Agnihotri (NOSSA) by scores of 21-16, 16-21, and 21-18, but were eliminated from contention in their second match in the bracket, falling to Victor Venhrzhanovsky and Badek Martyniak (WOSSA) 21-10 and 21-19 that afternoon.
“It was close the second game, but they were in tough,” Alexander noted.
“They played well,” she added. “Winning one match in ‘B’ is pretty good coming from Fort Frances.
“They played strong teams from that area, and it’s tough to compete against teams from badminton clubs who play in the cities.”
The duo had opened play Thursday with a loss to John Pham and Brandon To (ROPSSAA) in the ‘A’ bracket.
Meanwhile, the girls’ pairing of Chelsea Carlson and Kimika Alexander dropped their opening two matches on Thursday, falling to Faith Lau and Bowie Chiu of the York Region Athletic Association and then Chris Pinto and Charlene Yiu of Toronto.
Carlson and Alexander, in just Grade 10 and 9, respectively, rebounded Friday afternoon with a win over Chineze Nwebube and Amie Bogford (Hamilton) by scores of 21-19 and 21-12 on the ‘C’ side.
“They were strong from the beginning and put the bird in the right places, and competed really well,” Alexander enthused.
But they lost in the ‘C’-side semi-finals to Connie Ho and Junyi Dai of Toronto in a hard-fought decision (21-18 and 21-16) before losing the ‘C’-side bronze-medal match 21-17 and 21-15 to Amy Vantertoorn and Kelsey Neerhof (COSSA).
The girls were looking to duplicate the feat of Desjardins’ older sister, Simone, who captured the only medal in Fort High badminton history with a ‘C’ bronze back in 2002.
“They [Carlson and Alexander] struggled in that last match, but that just came from lack of experience and they’ll be better off because of it,” their coach said. “They were really nervous and really wanted to win.
“The girls were upset, but it’s nice that they were able to experience that this year because next year they won’t be as nervous and will know what to expect,” she reasoned.
The Muskie contingent will take on some restructuring next year as Alexander looks to match up players with the goal of getting as many through to the all-Ontarios as possible.
“I’m thinking Rory and Chelsea or Kimika will play mixed doubles, and then one of those girls will play singles,” Alexander noted. “I’m trying to take as many senior players to OFSAA and trying to give them the best scenario to make it there.
“Rory doesn’t have a male partner right now I can see close enough to match with him next year, and boys’ singles is a very tough event at OFSAA to compete [in],” she conceded.
The girls’ pairing of Jillian Berry and Hannah Taylor, who captured gold in the junior bracket at the NWOSSAA finals, also will be making the jump to the senior level next year.
“We have Jillian and Hannah coming up and I’d like to see them challenge for OFSAA, but if we have another girls’ doubles team, they’ll be competing against each other,” Alexander explained.
“That’s why I’d like to get Rory in mixed doubles.
“But sometimes, skill-wise, two players can make a good team, but sometimes, personality-wise, they don’t, so we’ll have to figure those things out for next year,” she added.
Alexander said a trip to OFSAA is a worthwhile learning experience for players both on and off the court.
“It’s such a good experience,” she enthused. “They make friends, and it creates so many memories for the kids that they never forget.
“I’d like for more students to have the chance to experience this event.”