Broncos badminton has strong showing at ACAC Championships

The Olds College Broncos badminton team had a great showing at the ACAC Conference Championships that were held at NAIT Feb. 22-23, 2020, beginning with Priyanna Ramdhani being named to the 2019-20 ACAC Badminton All-Conference Team and ending with four medals for the Broncos badminton team.

The weekend began with the Team competition where the Olds College Broncos lost the semi-final 4-0 to the Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder before losing 4-2 to the King's University in the bronze medal game.

That evening things started to get exciting for the Broncos as first-year student-athlete Priyanna Ramdhani was named to the 2019-20 ACAC Badminton All-Conference Female Team. Priyanna is a Sports Management student from Peters Hall, Guyana.

Sunday was the individual competitions and the Broncos made their presence known throughout the day. Priyanna Ramdhani showed why she was on the All-Conference Team by winning a silver medal in women's singles. Priyanna Ramdhani defeated Kaitlyn Gee (NAIT) 21-4, 21-6 in the quarter-final to make the round robin final-four. Priyanna lost to gold medal winning and ACAC female Player of the Year Takeisha Wang (Concordia) 21-10, 21-10 before defeating Kassidy Turcotte (Concordia) 21-6, 21-6 and Kaylee Morris (Concordia) 21-12, 21-7.

Other Broncos competing in women's singles were Kathrin Wildt who lost to Erica Jorgensen (Kings) 21-17, 21-16 in the round of 16, and Jenna Kardos who lost in the quarterfinal to bronze medal winner Kassidy Turcotte(Concordia) 21-10, 21-9 after defeating Ehhsertinay Paw (Kings) in the round of 16.

Priyanna Ramdhani teamed up with Layce Donaldson in women's doubles where the defeated Krisha Mejica and Cecilia Wolski (Kings) 21-15, 16-21, 21-18 to make the round robin final four. They lost to gold medal winning Jasleen Kaur and Johnna Rymes (Concordia) and silver medal winning Samantha Hsu and Ivy Ung (NAIT) while defeating Kaitlyn Gee and Connie Juang (NAIT) to win a bronze medal.

Troy Morgan also was well represented for the Broncos, winning two bronze medals. His first medal came in men's singles where he defeated Concordia's Chava Robles 21-11, 21-5 to get to the round robin final-four. He lost to gold medal winning and ACAC badminton Male Player of the Year Roymond Kim (NAIT), and silver medal winner Narayan Ramdhani (King's) before defeating Tyson Tsen (Concordia) in a comeback 13-21, 21-6, 21-16 win to capture bronze.

Other Broncos competing in men's singles were Rylan Head who fell in the round of 16 (to King's Fits Galang 21-19, 23-21), Noah Jeffery who lost in the quarter-final (after defeating King's Liam Nutma, he lost to Concordia's Tyson Tsen 21-17, 21-11) and Bob Stevenson who also lost in the quarter-final (after defeating Concordia's Lane Toma 21-16, 19-21, 21-12 he lost to King's Narayan Ramdhani 21-5, 21-7).

Morgan continues his winning ways in men's doubles where he and his doubles partner Noah Jeffery won a bronze medal. The defeated Aakash Panchal and Alex Stewart (Kings) in the quarter-final in a comeback 11-21, 21-10, 21-15 win. They lost to gold medal winning Smit Patel and Tyler Walsh (NAIT) and silver winning Nicolas Pittman and Braxton Wong (Concordia) while defeating Fits Galang and Liam Nutma (Kings) to capture ACAC bronze.

Rylan Head and Bob Stevenson lost a close quarterfinals match to Fits Galang and Liam Nutma (King's 21-16, 21-18.

Olds was also well represented in mixed doubles where Noah Jeffery and Layce Donaldson defeated Chava Robles and Kaylee Morris (Concordia) 20-22, 21-16, 21-18 before falling to bronze medal winning Tyson Tsen and Kassidy Turcotte (Concordia) in the quarter-final 21-10, 21-14. Rylan Head and Jenna Kardos defeated Fits Galang and Chanel Simrose (Kings) 21-18, 22-20 before falling to Alex Stewart and Cecilia Wolski (Kings) 21-16, 21-15.

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