Defending champs near perfect after first day of championship play
Oshawa, Ont. – The Toronto Varsity Blues are on the right course to win their fourth straight title after the opening day of the OUA badminton championship presented by Canuckstuff, leading Group A alongside the Ottawa Gee-Gees with a 2-0 record.
Toronto opened the day with a 10-0 win over the Guelph Gryphons, followed by a 9-1 victory over the Waterloo Warriors. Not only was Toronto solid in their overall team result, but also only lost four games throughout all of their matches.
The Ottawa Gee-Gees were strong on Day 1, also 19-1 through their matches. They do have a slight edge on Toronto in the games department though, having only lost three.
Ottawa and Toronto will meet at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, likely a match to determine who has a bye to the semifinal round, bypassing the quarter-finals, which are scheduled for 5 p.m. on Saturday night. Semifinals will be played Sunday at 8 a.m.
In Group B there are also two 2-0 teams with the McMaster Marauders and Western Mustangs sitting in a nearly identical situation to their Group A foes. Both teams have 19-1 match records, while Western has lost one more game than McMaster. They will also meet at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The third and final spot in the medal-round is up for grabs on Saturday as the Guelph Gryphons hold their own fate and can surpass the Waterloo Warriors who currently sit in third in Group A.
On the other side, it’s wide open as Ryerson (1-1) faces Western (2-0) on Saturday morning before facing the Carleton Ravens (0-3) at 1 p.m. Queen’s is still in the mix in pending the result of those matches and their battle against the first-place McMaster Maruaders.
The host UOIT Ridgebacks struggled on the opening day, sitting 0-3 after losing to Ottawa and Waterloo 10-0. Their bright spot on the day was a 6-4 loss to the Guelph Gryphons. This is the first time UOIT has hosted the badminton championship in the program’s three-year history.
Throughout the weekend fans can catch action on the featured court on OUA.tv, which will also show the gold medal match on Sunday at 12 p.m.