The 2019 Badminton Yukon Championships Junior Tournament was May 3 to 5 at Porter Creek Secondary School in Whitehorse.
Approximately 30 players took part in the three-day tournament, competing in singles and doubles competition.
Eri Boye, director of tournaments for the Yukon Badminton Association, said the weekend was a success, despite a number of other racket sports associations holding tournaments the same weekend.
“I thought the tournament went really well. All in all, it was a pretty good level of play,” said Boye. “There was some competition entries to play, but all in all I was really happy with the turnout. … People had a lot of fun.”
This year the Yukon Badminton Association adjusted its age categories from even-numbered — under 12, for example — to odd-numbered divisions — like under 13 — bringing them in line with the national standard.
In singles competition, players were divided into four age categories – under 13, under 15, under 17 and under 19 – although under 19 had just one entrant and was opened up to other players in both the girls and boys divisions.
Beginning with under 13 boys singles, Max Naulet was the winner with Joel Girouard finishing second.
Moving up to under 15 boys singles, Christopher Blakesley won and Zach Willoughby finished second. Third spot belonged to Nikolas Spicer.
At the under 17 boys singles level, Christopher TomTom finished first, Blakesley second and Willoughby third.
In the under 19 boys singles group, Blakesley was first, TomTom was second and Naulet was third.
The winner of the under 13 girls singles was Cedy Krueger. Second place was Nicolette deLeon and third place was Wylloh Dinn.
Orlina Menard won the under 15 girls singles, while Julianne Girouard was second and Queenie Lu was third.
In the under 17 girls singles category, Gabrielle Boulanger was the winner. Lily Kremer finished second and Lu was third.
The final singles category — under 19 girls — also finished with Boulanger and Kremer first and second. Third place belonged to Menard.
Switching gears to doubles, players competed at the under 15, under 17 and under 19 age levels in boys, girls and mixed teams.
Willoughby and Spicer won the under 15 boys doubles group, with Naulet and Devyn Rollins finishing second and Joel and Eli Cairns finishing third.
The under 17 boys doubles winners were Naulet and Rollins, with Blakesley and Willoughby second, and TomTom and Cairns third.
Finally for the boys, the under 19 winners were again Naulet and Rollins. Second place went to Willoughby and Spicer, and third place was TomTom and Cairns.
The under 15 girls doubles winners were Hailey Loblaw and Brooke Tippett. Second place was the duo of Emma McFarland and Julianne, followed by Lu and Khushi Brar in third.
Moving up in age to under 17 girls doubles, Boulanger and McFarland were first, Tippett and Loblaw were second, and Brar and Lu were third.
In the under 19 girls doubles, Boulanger teamed with Menard for the win. In second place were Isla Hupe and Julianne, and in third place were Tippett and Loblaw.
In under 15 mixed doubles, Tippett and Willoughby combined for the win. Lu and Rollins finished second, and Joel and Julianne finished third.
Boulanger and Blakesley won the under 17 mixed doubles, while Tippett and Willoughby finished second. Lu and Rollins finished third.
Rounding out the results, Brar and TomTom won the under 19 mixed doubles. Tippett and Willoughby were second, and Lu and Rollins were third.
Contact John Hopkins-Hill at john.hopkinshill@yukon-news.com