Joy Chan
April 5, 2020
The HKIS Varsity and Junior Varsity boys and girls badminton squads played the three-day-long China Cup tournament at the Shanghai American School Puxi. All four squads arrived in Hong Kong on March 25th with a unanimous fourth place finish.
JV team captain, Melanie Chan (10) attributed her discontent with the results to the lack of in-season training. She, however, stated that the team did come “a lot closer to all the other schools from last year”. The captain also recognised that it was the team’s good efforts that led to a considerable improvement in comparison to the previous year. This improvement may be in credit to Coach Chloe, who according Denise Chow (10), is more persistent in athletes’ attendance of trainings.
Despite the results, China Cup remained as a valuable experience for the athletes. Boys Varsity player, Kinsey Ho (11) said, “I feel that it's not the results that impact our experience and fun at China Cup, but rather the times when we play, spectate our own team, and spectate the skilled opponents.” Kinsey also expressed that China Cup is mental and physical preparation for APAC as it allows them to “grasp APAC's increased sense of fighting spirit and tough competition.”
With the closing of this year’s China Cup, the upcoming APAC tournament is the badminton team’s final opportunity to rise in the ranks. The athletes playing APAC, will be different from those who the athletes who played China Cup this year and the tournament will take place in Guangzhou American International School of Guangzhou (AISG).
Check in next month to track this year’s badminton team progress.
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