TORONTO, Ont. – This past weekend the UOIT Ridgebacks badminton team competed at the Ryerson and McMaster tournaments.
 
The McMaster Open was held on Saturday and had 56 participants. The Ridgebacks were represented by Norbert Wojdylo, Dilan Hewavitharana, Jay Patel, Angela Li and Mai Lyn Puittinen.
 
The top male performer was Norbert Wojdylo, who lost his first-round singles match to McMaster 21-9, 21-13 and then won his first round in B flight 13-21, 21-13, 21-19 before a 12-8, 21-14 loss in the B flight semifinal.
 
At the Ryerson Open, on Saturday and Sunday, there were 168 participants coming from Waterloo, Toronto, Ryerson, UOIT, Queen's and numerous club players from the GTA.
 
Throughout all matches the team showed great improvement finishing with an overall record of 11 wins and 26 losses.
 
In the men's singles all three competitors, had a total record of 6-4, with Zhiyi Chen leading the way with two main round wins.
 
The Ridgebacks fell short in women's singles with our three participants not winning a match, but showed great improvement when competing against top players in the OUA.
 
In men's doubles there were two teams that won their first match and qualified for A flight competition. Sheng and Zhiyi Chen won against Commander BC in a great challenge of skill and power, but fell short to a strong Ryerson alumni team. Following the first pair, Vincent Chan and Alfonse Ly surprised the team by defeating Queen's, making it their first ever main round victory.
 
Women's doubles struggled against Waterloo, Queen's and a club from Scarborough resulting in losses. With the losses also came a confidence boost for both teams as they are now beginning to compete against opponents and are on the verge of winning matches.
 
Mixed doubles came in finishing with a record of 3-7. Alfonse Ly and Bonnie Chung won their first main round match against Queen's followed by a loss to Waterloo. This was a accomplishment for Chung as she won her first ever A round match.
 
The top performer for the women's team was captain Emilee Carmichael as she was outstanding in both women's and mixed doubles. There were several big performances for the men's team. The Chen brothers continue to set the bar with their consistent performance and rookie Alfonse Ly holding his own by staying in the main round of both men's and mixed doubles.
 
The biggest improvement on the entire men's team was the veteran assistant Vincent Chan who won his first main round A flight match ever in doubles and competed well in mixed and singles as well.
 
The Ridgebacks next event is their own team event, which will be held on Sunday, Jan. 27.