By: Jolyon Thompson

LONDON - Fanshawe College hosted the first OCAA invitational of the badminton season over the past weekend and the Colts saw great success when it was all said and done.

The highlight of the weekend was our two top men's teams making it to the finals to face off against each other for gold. 

In the quarterfinals of the Men's Doubles Colts, Adam Wilson and Roney Roy defeated the number two seeds from Seneca to advance to the semifinals where they narrowly defeated the number three seeds from Fanshawe.

In the top half of the draw, Men's Doubles Colts Brandon Cheung and Tuan Ninh Le defeated the number one seeds from George Brown in an exciting three-game match in the quarterfinals. Of note is that the GB team included the Men's singles and Mixed doubles winners. However, our doubles team's cohesion and brilliance won the match.

Colts Cheung and Le then went on to easily defeat their Humber opponents, who were seeded fourth in men’s doubles, in the semi-finals.

They set up a historic matchup of Colts varsity athletes in the Men’s Doubles finals. 

Congratulations to Adam Wilson and Roney Roy who won the tournament, with Brandon Cheung and Tuan Ninh Le taking second place in men's doubles.

Wilson is to be congratulated for also making it to the Semi-Finals in the men's singles and mixed doubles with Deniese Scott! He also lost in mixed doubles against this tournament's singles and eventual mixed doubles winner from George Brown.

All our players turned in notable results this weekend.

Faye Anne Tenio was a women's consolation singles Finalist and C flight women's doubles Winner with Mariel Anne Vallarit. Deniese Scott and Ivy Wong won the B flight women's doubles. Rejin Arante and Rony Jacob won the B-flight men's doubles. Jingdong He was a consolation men's singles Finalist.

Not only did all our Colts players win prizes but they were very supportive of each others' efforts.

Of note is that Wilson won the hearts of competitors, including those from other Colleges, who were mesmerized by his remarkable defense, which included throwing himself across the courts to return shuttles and keep play going when his opponents thought they had already won the rally.

The Colts get off to a terrific start to kick off the season and this is a sign of good things to come.