Aspirations for a Banner Season: a Halifax recap and looking ahead to championship weekend

Another ACAA badminton tournament, hosted by the University of King's College from January 20th to the 21st in Halifax, NS, saw the Mount Allison Mounties bring home a third consecutive regular-season tournament title. The undefeated Mounties, 3-0 on the season, are ready to carry their momentum into the 2023-24 ACAA Championships and National Qualifiers. But first, let us take a closer look at the badminton team's win in Halifax.

The Mounties included three rookies hungry for game action on their roster this weekend, and the first to mention is Tua MacNeil, from Halifax, who, in her first-ever ACAA competition, played her way into the A division quarterfinals. After MacNeil lost in the B semi-finals, Veteran Talla Corkum ended up with a second-place finish in the B division, improving her singles game with each passing tournament. Rookie Molly Peppard solidified her place among the league's best singles players, capturing yet another A semi-finals placement. Before each tournament, Peppard looks at the top players in our league and, a demonstration of the new culture being instilled in the Mountie's badminton program, profusely insists that she will win. It starts with believing, precisely the mentality the Mounties will need to secure a league championship.

This was the season's first tournament for rookie Daniel Amarouche, originally from France, who, despite a severe illness, played his way to the A quarter and took home the B division in men's singles. A gutsy effort from the dual-sport athlete — Amarouche also plays on Mount A's men's varsity soccer team. His opponent in the A division quarterfinals, co-captain Ben Broadbent, advanced to the semi-finals. Here, he would play Krishna Vaibhov of Saint John. Despite diving for every shuttle, Broadbent fell quite short of moving on. On the other side of the men's singles draw, "Pink shoes," or Wilson Paluch, met his match in the A semis, facing off against the now-top-ranked Thomas Ashton of the home team, Blue Devils. In their second match of the year, the latter was victorious yet again, setting the stage for a much-anticipated final between the two top players in the ACAA.

Round 1, Ashton vs Vaibhov. As the entire gymnasium hushed with each long rally (King's Head Coach Jack Ronahan even had to encourage some applause after game one), Ashton came out on top to cap off day one of the tournament.

Continuing on the men's side, Jacob and Mike continued their dominant run of reaching the A finals and only fell short to the King's duo of Ashton and Aidan Badcock-Parks. These two continue to grow, with hopes not only of qualifying for the 2024 National Championships but also of bringing home a medal. Broadbent and Paluch came together yet again and lost to Ashton and Parks in the A semis before taking on a new doubles team from UNB Saint John in the B final, where the Mounties eventually won a smash-fest in two straight sets.

Our two women's doubles teams impressed; one in particular even turned heads. First-timer and cross-country star MacNeil, paired with reigning rookie of the year Brenell Enman, made it to the A division semi-finals. After a tough loss, now in the B finals, the young double's team, still gaining experience, lost to the veteran combination of co-captain Brianna Warwick and third-year soccer-badminton star Taryn Greco.

In the mixed doubles division, and to mention the last of the first timers in competition, rookie Will Harrison, who frequently displays his "gun-show" in practice, paired up with Corkum and won the C division. As Corkum said, advancing in A or B was difficult when their first mixed match was against the number two-seeded Ritu Shah and Parks. An ill Amarouche was replaced by Paluch, who, with Greco, lost in the B final. The ever so silent but sneakily consistent Jacob Lamothe and Warwick, along with mullet-man Mike Ta and Peppard, each found themselves in the A division semi-finals. Peppard and Ta would go on to win the B final.

Unfortunately for the Mounties, the final ACAA regular season tournament, scheduled for February 3rd at Dalhousie in Truro, NS, was cancelled due to weather concerns. For Lamothe, Warwick, and Sophie Geis, all graduating veterans, this is not the end of their playing careers. They will be a part of Mount Allison's team at the ACAA Championships (February 10th) and National Qualifiers (February 11th), held at Mount Allison University. Each tournament will run all day, with a banner on the line Saturday and a chance to play at Nationals at Seneca College in