2010 Junior Pennants - Spring Series - Week 5 of 5

The fifth and final week of the Junior Pennants Semester 2 saw the players raise their games for one final push to see if they could earn their teams vital wins.

There was some very well played badminton and some very tight matches by the enthusiastic juniors in both the championship title play-off, between the Meerkats & the Racoons, and the 3rd place play-off, between the Beavers & the Hamsters.

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The Beavers, without a win all season, came into the finals determined to put up a good fight. They took on the Hamsters in the bronze medal play-off. The battling Beavers showed their strong intent with their top players Tyzton Tan & Muhammad Suhaimie playing their hearts out to lift their team, but the Hamsters showed good resolve with strong performances from Herman Chan, Jackson Brennan & Leonard Yau. Some of the matches were very close with 3 of them being won by the Hamsters by just 1 pt each! These were crucial in the tie as it helped the Hamsters to a well fought 10-8 win to secure bronze.

The big title showdown lived up to its amazing billing, with both the Meerkats and the Racoons giving it their very best.

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The Meerkats were determined to try their best to beat the undefeated Racoons and they performed very well. This was a nail-biting tie with neither side being able to stretch away from the other. It was neck and neck all the way. Going into the final 3 games, the Meerkats were 1 game up. The Racoons took the next singles match & backed that up with another win in the following doubles match to give them a 1 game lead going into the final game! The final game was a doubles between Brendan Murray & Joel Raja (Meerkats) vs Lim Eih Bing & Kieran Dullabh (Racoons). The Meerkats won that to bring the scores level to 9-9 at the end of all the matches.

It went to points count back and the Racoons narrowly edged the Meerkats to maintain their undefeated run & earn a valuable 14 pts victory to be crowned the Semester 2 Junior Pennants Champions

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The conclusion of the competition was followed by the presentation of the awards and prizes by Junior Development Committee members: Mr. Himanshu Thakker (State Player & Coach) & Mr. Stephen Teo.

Awards were also presented to the Meerkats who finished Runners-Up in Semester 2.

Most Valuable Players (MVP) trophies were also given out to the player from each team that won the most games and points for their teams up to the semi-finals. The MVPs for the 4 teams were as follows:

Racoons - Connie Xu, Meerkats - Brendan Murray, Hamsters - Leonard Yau, Beavers - Tyzton Tan

It was very encouraging to note that the juniors played with good sporting spirit and showed great enthusiasm through-out the whole season.

Kind thanks and great appreciation to the sponsorship and support from Healthway for the 'Be Active' Badminton Junior Pennants.

The Organisers trust that all the players had a great time participating in the 2010 Season 2 Junior Pennants. To register your interest for the next series (Season 3), please contact one of the organisers, Himanshu Thakker or Stephen Teo.

Final Team Standings After Week 5 - Finals Results:

Racoons (1st) beat Meerkats (2nd) on pts : match score - 9 to 9, points difference - 14pts

Hamsters (3rd) beat Beavers (4th) : match score - 10 to 8

2010 Junior Pennants Semester 2 Teams:

MEERKATS - Heer Gudka, Matthew Teo, Beh Ee Keat, Brendon Murray, Daniel Tie, Joel Raja, Lynette Loo and Nicole Yau.

HAMSTERS - Herman Chan, Julian Ng, Alvin Khuu, Jackson Brennan, Ryan Black, Oliver Hayes, Leonard Yau and Christy Novakovic.

RACOONS - Titus Tan, Owen Chan, Edward Win, Lim Eih Bing, Kieran Dullabh, Dillon Turner, Breanne Young and Connie Xu.

BEAVERS - Tyzton Tan, Cavan Yau, Brendan Burns, Muhammad Suhaimie, Lachlan Brennan, Ziao Venezianni, Lisa Guo and Scott Delamotte.

Information and photos provided by: Stephen Teo, Badminton WA, Junior Development.