There is a double-edged sword to picking up back to back wins, right out of the gate in the "A" draw, when competing at the annual OFSAA Badminton Championships.
With victories over both Maddi Drayer (SOSSA) and Taylor L'Ecuyer (SWOSSAA) on day one, Lockerby Composite grade 11 girls singles competitor Gillian Obradovich found herself amidst the top eight players in the province earlier this month in Pain Court.
Unfortunately, setbacks against both Shivani Lysetti (ROPSSAA) and Jenny Liao (NCSSAA - bronze) would eliminate the long-time member of the Sudbury Junior Badminton Club in the quarter-final round of the "A" Consolation bracket, her work completed after just four matches.
By comparison, the SDSSAA mixed doubles teams of Farrah Farstad/Blake Rosener (St Charles) and Ella Kissner/Zander Lauzon (ESMC) found their way more quickly to the "B" draw, but ultimately got in their fair share of badminton and then some, battling their way through seven and eight matches respectively.
City and NOSSA senior mixed champions, the Farstad-Rosener pairing opened with a win over Emily Zhang/Alexander Matos (YRAA), but were bumped to the "B" draw after falling to Haley Vander Laan/Cole Landers (WOSSAA).
An early day two loss to Simone Thériault/Boris Lazendic (SWOSSAA) would precede a nice run for the Cardinals seniors, upending Reese Cryderman/ Andrew Goulet (SWOSSAA), Armand Cao/Jay Solomon (COSSA) and Rachel Goris/Brady Schnare (WOSSA) in "B" Consolation action before being eliminated in a semi-final encounter with Kyanna Kama/Jacob Beauchamp (NCSSA).
Runners-up to the SCC reps in both events that would lead to provincials, the Kissner/Lauzon duet somewhat mirrored their local rivals, also kicking things off on a winning note, getting the better of Thériault and Lazendic.
They would be whisked off to the "B" Pool following a defeat at the hands of Cathy Cao/Louis Sun (YRAA), making it two losses in a row in a meeting with Emma Machioni/Maxim Bertrand (NWOSSAA).
Because they did not have an opening round bye, Kissner and Lauzon found themselves now in the "C" draw, with both its pros and cons. The good news was that after splitting their first two games - a win over Karen Jorgensen/Justin Doan but vanquished by Connor Wiersma/Jacob Hoekstra (SOSSA) - the Panthères pairing still had one life remaining.
They would make the most of it in the "C" Consolation bracket, besting both Alison Morin/Grason Whiteway (NWOSSAA) and Abby Balan/Colin Holmes (SWOSSAA), but ending their lengthy journey with a loss in their semi-final affair opposite Liyenne Valdez/Jano Barbe (TDCAA).
These five athletes were the only SDSSAA students to make their way to OFSAA this year, as NOSSA highlights included an A Division bronze medal performance from Eigen Conejos/Ryan O'Donnell (Men's Doubles - Chippewa Secondary), a B Division antique bronze in the same event for Matthew Marsh/Ty Turcotte (F.J. McElligott - Mattawa) along with a pair of C Division medals: Victoria Charbonneau/Gabbie Dufresne-Nappert (silver - women's doubles - E.S. Algonquin) and Cole Lejambe (bronze - men's singles - E.S.C. Elisabeth-Bruyère).
