After a loss of 10-7 to Del Norte, Westview’s badminton team ended its league season with a record of 6-3, April 20.
Although they lost, Westview teams scored many points against Del Norte, making it a closer match than the last time they faced off. Alice Lau (10) and Lydia Tsai (11) won their doubles game 21-14 and 21-11, and Lanting Jiang (9) and Jzeanna Ibon (9) won their match 21-13 and 21-16. Hannah Dang (12) won her singles match in 22-20 and 21-7, and Tanvi Gupta (11) won her singles game in 21-8 and 21-7.
Brandon Tran (12) said he applied strategies he observed from Del Norte’s earlier matchups against Westview into his own gameplay, including his doubles game against one of Del Norte’s nationally ranked players.
“Essentially, he calculates your receive, [so] he can just jump up and smack it down [to] kill it,” Tran said. “Even though we couldn’t fully counter it this time, I implemented it into some games after that, trying to predict and hit it before the other person actually hits the birdie.”
During the season, badminton practiced different formations to use in doubles games to improve court coverage and recovery.
“You have the person in front covering all the net shots that someone might play, or when they make a high lift, the person in the back can smash the birdie,” Tran said. “That continuously pressures [your opponent], and when they get out of position, you get a smash and win the point. The other position is a side-by-side position, which is when you have to defend. So when the other team is smashing at you, or putting pressure on you by driving quickly, you want to go to a side-by-side position to either block or counter the birdie. We strategize using those positions and practice those positions during our practice lessons.”
Leading up to the final game of the season, Tran said they practiced anticipation shot formations and hitting the birdie harder for doubles games.
“We didn’t have that much anticipation power to actually do a lot of drives, which is pretty much crucial during the doubles matches, so we train that with a variation with smash shots,” Tran said. “We practice driving and smashing in both defense and offense. We had a three person variation, which is one attacker on one side of the court and two defenders on the other side. They’re feeding one attacker to smash, and practicing their defense. The other attacker is practicing their shock quality and position.”
Despite the loss, Nico Cao (9) said the team continuously applied pressure, not letting Del Norte take the win home easily.
“There were a lot of rallies [that] lasted very long, and [we] didn’t give up,” Cao said. “[Our team] was able to get a lot of points in the end, and [it was] working really well.”
Gupta said that the team stayed positive throughout the match, having high spirits and encouraging each other.
“[Badminton is usually] just you [on the court], but when people are cheering you on, it makes it feel more like a team sport because it’s everybody supporting you, hoping that you’ll win, giving you advice, and cheering you up,” Gupta said.
After losing to Del Norte earlier in the season, Gupta said the loss had impacted the team’s mindset going into the game, but still put its efforts into scoring and trying its best.
“We walked in thinking we’re gonna lose, and that probably damaged a couple of people’s mindsets and maybe they didn’t try as hard,” Gupta said. “I think overall people were still thinking we’re gonna have a good game, have fun, and see how many points we can get.”
According to Cao, the team tried to focus on staying calm and maintaining consistency.
Gupta said the team is encouraged and looking forward towards CIFs. She said going against a good team helped prepare for challenges to come.
“When we’re going against a higher ranked team, it just feels like more of an achievement,” Gupta said. “If we do well, it’s [even] more accomplishing and satisfying.”
