In their last league meet of the season, three universities traveled to UC San Diego’s main gym for a final round of competition: UC Irvine (UCI), San Diego State University (SDSU), and University of Southern California (USC). These schools brought out their finest to demonstrate that, despite the toll the quarter had taken on them, they were still eager to compete and prove that they were ready to finish strong. USC was especially determined, with only five players traveling to play against other schools, due to the fact that they had finals the following week. In this meet, UCSD played against all three visiting schools, each with their own exciting matches. Overall, UCSD performed well, defeating USC and SDSU, while experiencing their first, and only, defeat against UCI in a close 6-9 loss.

A few notable matches occurred throughout the day. Against SDSU, in the women’s doubles category, senior Cindy Chan and freshman Carleen Li defeated Jennifer Thai and Jill Chiang in a lengthy 17-21, 22-20, 21-16 match. Similarly, Chan/Li defeated UCI’s Sonya Wong and Kerri Zhang in two set, with the later going to a rarely seen 30 point decider. Female power would come out in dominant fashion against UCI, with UCSD’s female badminton players sweeping the women’s singles category. Sophomore Stephanie La would go on to defeat UCI’s Sabrina Chen in a nail-biter three-setter, 23-21, 14-21, 21-16, each player determined not to give the other the edge. UCSD’s male players were no slouch either. In the men’s singles category, junior Matthew Wu defeats USC’s Mandar Deshpande in a close 21-17, 13-21, 21-14. The match was full of nonstop action, intense rallying, and great determination on both players’ parts.

With the conclusion of the regular season, the UCSD Badminton Team has a final record of 5 wins and 1 loss. We are proud of all of our players and look forward to each player’s participation in the upcoming 2019 Yonex Sun God Tournament, to be held during Memorial Day Weekend. Congrats all players on their improvements over the course of the season!