By Cooper McDonald
coopmaldonado30@gmail.com
The City College badminton team left Foothill College in the dust with a massive lead in their home game on Tuesday, April 22.
Before the match began, the teams introduced themselves and acknowledged that City College was honoring their sophomore players.
The lineup for the game was Jacqueline Leong, ranked no. 1 on the team, Maria Yau Zhang, Zoe Tao, Vickey Guan, Eunice Wu and Joey Chen.
The matches went by swiftly, with each being won by over a dozen points in the best-of-three games.
“We’re not usually done with the first round of singles and doubles within the first hour; it’s not even 4 o’clock yet,” Coach Mariano said.
Leong dominated with a 21-4 and 21-2 score against Foothill’s Bin He. Yau Zhang defeated Yilin Yu with a 21-4 and 21-10 score. Tao won with a 21-5 and 21-7 to beat Keila Pound. Guan won against Happy Lanjun with scores of 21-9 and 21-3.
Freshman Wu showed Foothill no mercy with a 21-3, 21-2 score. Chen kept the trend going by winning with a score of 21-8, 21-13.
After the singles matches, head coach Tiffany Mariano called out the doubles matchups across the court.
The first doubles teams called were Yau Zhang with Jessica Ho against Pound and Chepkemoi. The next match was Isabella Li alongside Leong battling He and Yu.
The last set of doubles was Guan partnered with Tao versus Lanjun and Tran.
Yau Zhang and Ho won with a score of 21-7, 21-4. Li and Leong had a fairer matchup, winning 21-11, 21-9. Guan and Tao easily blew their opponents out of the water with a 21-2, 21-5 win.
“Now they’re just having fun at this point,” Mariano said, as she called the second round of singles matches. “This team is non-threatening.”
The next set of singles lined up as Leong versus Yu, with Leong winning by a landslide score of 21-3, 21-2. Yau Zhang won with no trouble against He 21-2, 21-6. Tao also won without competition against Lanjun, winning 21-3, 21-6.
Guan won against Pound with a 21-8, 21-5 score. Wu defeated Chepkemoi 21-9, 21-6. Alice Zhang, who was subbed in for Chen, had no problem taking her place against Tran, winning 21-6, 21-3.
In the last round of doubles, both teams of Wu and Tao; and Ho and Yoyo Tam won their matches.
“These girls have a real passion for this sport, and it shows in how they play with perfect execution,” Coach Mariano said.
“The women’s badminton team deserves more recognition around campus because these girls put so much time and effort into this game. It’s rare any of them miss a practice,” Mariano said. “We’ve done double practices and don’t really have an off season, so besides academics, this sport is a big time sacrifice.”
Mariano explained that with only 12 badminton teams in the conference, the Rams have to use a van to travel long distances for away games.
“I’ve been coaching for eight years, and it has been amazing. Going undefeated last season shows how hard we’ve worked.”
After the meet, the Rams badminton team held their ceremony honoring the Sophomore players: Jacqueline Leong, Isabella Li, Zoe Tao and Maria Yau Zhang. A table with gifts and canvases with their roster photos and action shots was set up in the center of the court next to the scoring table.
The Rams will advance to the Coast Conference Championship, with matches scheduled for May 1-2 at De Anza College.
Editor’s note: Badminton games are free and take place in the Brad Duggan basketball Court on Ocean Campus. The next home game will be a championship match on Thursday, May 8.