Two varsity members play a point during their doubles match against Monta Vista. The two partners took first place at the Newark Memorial Tournament in the East Bay, defeating the four top seeds.
Credit: Cosmo Sung
The badminton team is off to a great start this season with a 4-0 record and strong wins against Palo Alto, Wilcox and Monta Vista.
While many see badminton as an easy sport, it is actually a fast-paced sport that requires a disciplined and well-trained team. In fact, the team is making a significant amount of progress this year due to underclassmen taking on many of the higher positions.
“There’s definitely good energy this year,” head coach Marc Tsukakoshi said. “The team has a good balance of athleticism and technical ability and is showing overall motivation.”
Last year, seniors Gordon Liu and Jonathan Lin ranked fourth in the Central Coast Section (CCS). Although the team lost strong players last year, its members are hoping for similar achievements this season. “To see entry-level players progress to CCS level is pretty exciting,” Tsukakoshi said.
Badminton is divided into girls’ and boys’ singles, boys’ doubles and girls’ doubles, and mixed gender doubles. Singles and doubles positions vary mostly in their technique. Among singles and doubles, there are six playing positions, both odd and even.
“Singles requires lots of running because you’re the only person on the court,” freshman Phoebe Lin said. “It requires a lot of strategy. Doubles is more teamwork.”
In order to move up in position, players engage in a challenge match every Monday. Either odd players challenge even players or vice versa.
Despite the individual positions, badminton is still very much a team sport. “We play the games as a school and our scores against them are based on how all of us win, so its based on a lot of teamwork,” Lin said.
Players train intensively during both pre-season and the season. Several players also train year round in other clubs such as the Bintang Club in Sunnyvale. Otherwise, the team trains five days a week after school, practicing hitting drills, footwork and sprints.
Students also take notes on fellow teammates’ games. “Every match you’re required to take notes on two games,” senior Tom Hwang said. “After games, we sometimes discuss the notes and construct a practice based on our weaknesses.”
Tsukakoshi said he would like players to improve overall fitness and refine the mechanics of strokes and shots. “I think we are lacking a bit in experience, but overall the team is definitely one of the strongest I’ve seen thus far,” Tsukakoshi said.
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