Over the President’s day weekend, the UC San Diego Badminton Team traveled to Seattle to participate in the “Husky Open” hosted by the University of Washington’s badminton club. After a year hiatus, the team was excited to travel again to attend the tournament. 

On Saturday, the first day of the tournament, players got ready for their singles and mixed doubles matches. For men’s singles, multiple players reached the semifinals or better in their respective events. Sophomore Vivek Srinivasan reached the semifinals of BMS, junior Andrew Li reached the semifinals of CMS, and senior Austin Tsang reached the semifinals of DMS. For Open MS, freshman Jerry Xu reached the semifinals of the consolation bracket and freshman Reno Guo won the consolation bracket. The highlight of the day was the matchoff between Vivek and Andrew, in which the entire team gathered to watch. Vivek prevailed in the end, winning 21-10, 20-22, 21-13. 

For women’s singles, sophomore Megha P won the BWS bracket, defeating Ishaani M in the final 21-15 21-9. Senior Carleen Li fought hard to reach the final of the Open WS bracket, defeating her previous opponents in very tight matches, 23-21 21-16 and 19-21 21-18 21-16, before ultimately succumbing to her opponent 13-21 14-21. In the DWS bracket, both Macy Fu and Vivian Chen managed to reach the semifinals.

For Mixed Doubles, senior Kyrell Ringpis and freshman Megan Lee fought hard to secure a spot in the DXD finals, falling short 18-21 21-13 and 22-20. Sophomore Ethan Lee and Carleen Li reached the Open consolation semifinals and graduate student Victor Wang with Megha P finished as BXD semifinalists. Unfortunately, Victor sustained an injury to his right ankle which left him unable to complete their semifinal match. 

On Sunday, the second day of the tournament, players prepared for the men’s and women’s doubles events. For men’s doubles, alumni Lawrence Leung and junior Huy Nguyen won BMD defeating their opponents with a score of 22-20 and 21-18. Junior Zach Leung and Vivek Srinivasan finished as finalists of CMS but after an intense match, ultimately fell short with a score of 21-17 and 23-21. Graduate student CJ Cullen and alumni Ali Viettry finished as semifinalists in the Open MD bracket, and freshman Justin Wang and Jerry Xu also finished as semifinalists for the Open MD Consolation. 

For Women’s Doubles, senior Jasmine Huang and sophomore Lynette Loo fought hard to secure a finalist spot in the Open WD, but eventually were defeated with a score of 21-10, 20-22, and 22-20. Freshman Megan Lee and sophomore Megha P reached the semifinals of BWD. 

The team had a great time competing in the tournament and will be looking forward to attending the “Husky Open” again in the future.