The Skyline Badminton Lady Trojans put up a fantastic show at the California Community College Athletics Association Badminton Championships. Three single players, Maggie Ho, Bonnie Chan, and Keshia Yusman and four double teams, Maggie Ho/Keshia Yusman, Bonnie Chan/Khin Htwe, Casey Spinetti/Erica Lum, and Gulsha Akoglu/Jenny Cheu qualified for the state championship this year.
On Thurs. May 8, the first day of the three day championship weekend began with the team (school) championship between San Diego City College and Skyline. San Diego unfortunately toppled Skyline 14 to 7 with Maggie Ho scoring six out of the seven points for Skyline. Ho won both of her matches versus the top two players for San Diego, and with her doubles partner, Chan, she went on to win the rest of her double matches for four points. Maggie has been the catalyst for us all season long,” said Coach Jan Fosberg. “She is undefeated in singles and doubles this year and… It was amazing to watch Maggie and Chan against the numberone and two players for San Diego. They both play at such a high level.” This is Skyline’s fifth state runner up trophy.
The next two days were the Individual State Championships. On the singles front, Ho, Chan, and Yusman, all made it to the second round, with Yusman sadly loosing after previously dominating her first round competition. Chan made it all the way to the semifinals shutting down most all her opponents, but was ill-fated against #2 ranked Yan Li of City College of San Francisco, as Li won in a walk-through 21-0 in both matches.
The finals set up #1 Ho against #2 Li and according to Coach Fosberg, it is only the second time in the nine year history of CCCAA Badminton where the finals consisted of two Northern California players. The last time in 2000, featured Skyline’s very own Bonnie Chan, who at the time played for CCSF, and placed second behind De Anza’s Ann Kim. In the intense battle between Ho and Li, Ho came out victorious sweeping Li in two matches, 21-11 and 21-13, and becoming the Individual State Champion.
In the doubles competition, the double teams Gulsha Akoglu/Jenny Cheu and Erica Lum/Casey Spinetti lost in the both the opening matches and consolation matches, and although Casey Spinetti was dis-hearted about her loses, she was still proud of her effort. “The biggest accomplishment this year was making it to the CA State Championships,” Spinetti said. “Not too many teams can say that they have made it that far. It is one event my team and I will never forget.”
Sadly the ill-fated Chan and her partner Khin Htwe, were matched up against the number 2 seat in the semi-finals and once again lost in a walk-over, both games 21-0, this time by San Diego’s Aenoy Bounsavath and Amy Tu. Ho and partner Yusman met the San Diego powerhouse in the finals but lost two close games, with the first being game being 22-20, and walked away with the Doubles Runners Up Trophy.
“Maggie Ho and Keshia Yusman’s matches to get to the finals were very intense,” says Spinetti. “Keshia worked very hard and got passed her nervousness to get her and Maggie to the finals. Their matches were difficult but they worked really well together. It was really hard for me to watch sometimes because the match could have gone to the other team. But they pushed through to the finals.”
With only team awards left to be given out, the team now can take time to properly plan for next season. Fosberg has been busy already. “Jon Lee (Assistant Coach) and I have been out recruiting local high school players,” Fosberg said. “My hope is that we can replace the sophomores that we lose this year to four year schools with some talented new athletes. It’s always our long-term goal to be a solid team, and compete for the conference championship.”
This close nit team now has to get ready to say goodbye to those that will be leaving, including a prominent face of the team for the last seven years, Assistant Coach Jon Lee. After a long goodbye letter to the team, thanking everyone and explaining the situation, he announced he will not be able take on the responsibility of being an Assistant Coach next year but how he will still drop in on occasion.
Their may have been problems early this season with some loss of players, one from injury and the other personal troubles, but the team unity became strong, and the hunger and desire to be the best help propel this year’s Lady Trojan Badminton team, to the top of the collegiate level.
