Even with the largest turnout in tournament history, with 119 registered players, including ones from Dawson, Teslin, BC, plus individuals from Mayo and Yellowknife, Watson Lake’s Jason Carlson and Vanessa Carlson were again at the top.
Although qualifying for junior categories, the two siblings won the open singles divisions at the Yukon Badminton Championships over the weekend at Porter Creek Secondary.
“I was pretty excited to defend my title this year,” said Jason. “There were three matches and they were all pretty close, pretty tight. Two years ago there wasn’t as much competition, last year there were one or two good games, and this year the whole thing was a lot more competitive. Bringing in players from down south was awesome for the competitiveness.
“The finals went to three games, so it was very challenging.”
Jason captured the men’s singles title, going undefeated, beating BC’s Yuichi Takasaka in the final. Vanessa took the open women’s, going undefeated in the round-robin.
“The singles were fun – it was definitely good to win again,” said Vanessa. “It was really good to play in the men’s doubles because that was the most competitive for me.
“That was the closest one.”
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Though Vanessa came up short in the open men’s doubles, Jason also took gold in that division, defeating silver medalists Abel Chua and Eng Chua in the final with partner Justin Dragoman from Dawson. Dragoman, who represented the territory at the Canada Winter Games in February, also won the U-19 boys’ singles at the championships.
“Justin played absolutely unbelievable throughout the entire doubles tournament,” said Jason. “It was awesome to see we could play together at the same level. We don’t get too much time to practice together.”
Jason’s singles win is his second in a row, winning the open men’s last year when the division was first introduced. He and Vanessa, 16, have also won handfuls of junior titles over previous years.
The two Watson Lakers have also had great success over numerous appearances at the Arctic Winter Games. Last year Vanessa won gold in U-19 singles and a silver in mixed doubles with Jason at the Arctics in Grande Prairie, Alberta. Jason also took a bronze junior male singles.
The two players will all but certainly be two of eight players on Team Yukon for the Western Canada Summer Games this August in Kamloops, BC.
“And we’re gearing up for the 2012 Arctic Winter Games here in Whitehorse next March,” said Yukon Badminton Association president Michael Muller. “Jason and Vanessa are some of the few people to take matches and medals away from Greenland. Greenland is very strong in badminton because of its connection with Denmark.
“Jason is too old for the Arctics, but he will go to Westerns, and Vanessa will go to both.”
FINAL STANDINGS
Open men’s singles
Gold – Jason Carlson
Silver – Yuichi Takasaka
Bronze – Abel Chua
Open women’s singles
Gold – Vanessa Carlson
Silver – Jasmine Gordon
Bronze – Martha Phillips
Open mixed doubles
Gold – Yuichi Takasaka/Jasmine Gordon
Silver – Sandeep Sharma/Yeu Fang Sharma
Bronze – Abel Chua/Shermain Chua
Open men’s doubles
Gold – Jason Carlson/Justin Dragoman
Silver – Abel Chua/Eng Chua
Bronze – Seth Rotondi/Sandeep Sharma
Open women’s doubles
Gold – Jasmine Gordon/Leanne Gordon
Silver – Sharmaine Chua/Mel Acosta
Bronze – Sarina Sydney/Haley Labar
U-19 boys’ singles
Gold – Justin Dragoman
Silver – Anuj Dake
Bronze – Afsal Djearam
U-19 girls’ singles
Gold – Leanne Gordon
Silver – Sarina Sydney
Bronze – Patty Wallingham
U-19 boys’ doubles
Gold – Anuj Dake/Afsal Djearam
Silver – Alastair Findlay-Brook/Casey Parker
U-16 boys’ singles
Gold – Alastair Findlay-Brook
Silver – Peter Jensen
Bronze – Axel Riemer
U-16 girls’ singles
Gold – Shermaine Chua
Silver – Ashley Anderson
Bronze – Montong Javannatum
U-16 mixed doubles
Gold – Trygg Jensen/Hanna Wirth
Silver – Liam Finnegan/Montong Javannatum
Bronze – Francis Bouffard/Autum Jules
U-16 boys’ doubles
Gold – Alastair Findlay-Brook/Axel Riemer
Silver – Peter Jensen/Clayton Mervyn
Bronze – Francis Bouffard/Paul Kormendy
U-16 girls’ doubles
Gold – Emily Knickle/Montong Javannatum
Silver – Autum Jules/Taneshia Jules
Bronze – Ashley Anderson/Mary-Willow Secord
U-14 boys’ singles
Gold – Trygg Jensen
Silver – Benjamin Grundmanis
Bronze – Alex Hansen
U-14 girls’ singles
Gold – Quynh Nguyen
Silver – Delaney Paul
Bronze – Hanna Wirth
U-14 boys’ doubles
Gold – Trygg Jensen/Allen Mark
Silver – Brandon Lafler/Pierre Lefebvre
Bronze – Benjamin Grundmanis/Peter Jacob
U-14 girls’ doubles
Gold – Aline Halliday/Quynh Nguyen
Silver – Shania Hogan/Aleshia Kremer
Bronze – Delaney Paul/Hanna Wirth
U-12 boys’ singles
Gold – Flynn Krabel
Silver – Aamir Djearam
Bronze – Mannie Sharma
U-12 girls’ singles
Gold – Aleshia Kremer
Silver – Shania Hogan
Bronze – Destiny Taylor
U-12 boys’ doubles
Gold – Spencer Lessard/Tim Schirmer
Silver – Aamir Djearam/Ritik Sharma
Bronze – Flynn Krabel/Francis Reid
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com