Estevan Comprehensive School is proving it's a force to be reckoned with on the badminton courts.
Three athletes represented ECS at the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association badminton provincials on Saturday in Wilkie. Josh Watchman and Haley Lingelbach competed in the mixed doubles division, while Andrew Batt competed in boys' singles.
It was Batt's second straight appearance in the SHSAA provincials, and the ECS senior proved that hard work and experience pays off.
"[The competition] was really tough, that's for sure - a lot of really good players. But I played the best of my life and I did well compared to last year," Batt said.
Batt finished the round robin at 2-1, which was an improvement from last year's provincials in Melville, where he went 0-3.
Batt said he worked on improving his footwork, backhand and strategy in preparation for this year's provincials.
The strong round robin performance sent Batt to the semi-finals where he came up against Ken Koch from Swift Current. After losing a tight first set 20-22, Batt rallied to win the next two sets 21-19 and 21-16 to advance to the finals. Batt said the come-from-behind victory just about took all of his energy to complete.
"I almost gave up. But I came out with a victory in the second set, and I thought 'I can do this.' So, I won in the third set and made it to the finals," Batt said.
In the finals, Batt was beaten by Debden's Jon Wilde in straight sets, 21-7, 21-14.
Batt's provincial silver medal is the best result for the Elecs in badminton in recent memory.
Watchman and Lingelbach, who were appearing in their first provincials, finished the round robin with a record of 1-2. After splitting their first two games, the duo met Canwood in the third and final round robin game. Lingelbach and Watchman played a very strong first set, losing 21-19, but in the end, the team from Canwood was just too strong, winning the second set 21-12.
Canwood went on to win the tournament, going undefeated.
Watchman and Lingelbach, both in Grade 11, say the experience will go a long way in preparing them for another run at the provincials next year.
"I really enjoyed the competition [in Wilkie]. The talent was amazing. There were so many good athletes, so it was a really good learning experience for us," Lingelbach said. "There's always room for improvement so hopefully we'll work hard next year and get [to provincials] again."
The mixed doubles team plans to take the experience they gained and hopefully pick up a medal at next year's provincials.
"It gives us something to work for - a goal to get to," Watchman said.
