Courtesy of Annette Li

We pose after our victory against Fremont High on April 30.

Four years ago, standing in opposite corners of the gym, lonely and partner-less, we saw each other, and our eyes met with a kind of static electricity. It was the beginning of an unstoppable badminton partnership.

Because neither of us trained outside of school, our badminton skills were built by our captains, the three coaches we’ve worked with throughout our four years and the occasional Chinese videos our coaches sent in the badminton Messenger group chat.

Consequently, our playing styles morphed year-to-year with our changing rotations (the moving and switching of positions) and forms (technique or body mechanics). Now, after four years on the team, we can finally say that our rotations are about 85% correct, and we only end up stuck on the same side of the court about once every game, with an occasional (and embarrassing) swing and a miss.

One of our fondest memories as partners dates back to a match vs. Gunn in freshman year, when we played as the team’s varsity No. 3 Doubles for the first time, since we were technically on JV in ninth grade. We were in our third set, a tie-breaker set, and it just so happened that our match was also the overall match tie-breaker, too: The scoreboard read Falcons 15, Titans 14. We still remember how the halfway break at 11 points when our coach pulled us aside and gripped his fists, telling us: “I need this.”

Fueled by nerves and adrenaline as dozens of players and parents watched, we can still remember the exhilaration of winning the final point and securing our victory by the score of 21-16.

At our next home game — after our success at Gunn High — our coach kept us on varsity, but we unfortunately lost the match. Never again did we play for varsity that season.

The Gunn game ended up a beautiful miracle as well as an exception to our usual performance under pressure. Contrary to professional athletes, pressure plays with our performance like a piñata. Although we comfortably play at the best of our abilities during practice, our nervousness during games always humbles us, even after a full high school career on the team. 

From Isabelle’s excessively sweaty hands to Amy’s near fatally high heart rate (it once reached 199 BPM during a game), the coaching we received during games was often to “calm down.”

Sadly, our nerves often undermined our play on the courts, primarily during the first 11 points and at game points. Sometimes, we became paralyzed by fear, standing frozen still as the birdie would land two steps ahead of us. Occasionally, we swung with our entire body weight only for the birdie to fly over our heads — the badminton equivalent of an “airball.” 

Other times, our carefully rehearsed rotations became scrambled in our heads, resulting in aggressive calls for the shot (“MINE!”), vulnerable openings for our opponents to target and frequent screeches and squawks of shock across the court.

In sophomore year, we officially joined varsity. It was a humbling season of competing with upper-league schools, but with our burning love for badminton, we were extremely motivated to improve. We even won “Best Effort” medals during the badminton banquet for our perfect attendance, which included all of the optional practices.

Regardless of on-court results, though, our partnership has worked because of our complementary strengths and weaknesses on the court, creating a balance as a duo.

In badminton, the doubles rotation consists of two placements: front-back and side-side. Isabelle is better in the front position, where most of the shots consisted of fast-paced drives and short net drops, requiring a quick reaction time. Amy, conversely, is better in the back, the position that requires more stamina and strength for court-long clears and rapid smashes that “could kill” — spoken verbatim by Isabelle from experience.

Miraculously, many of Amy’s poorly aimed shots fly straight at Isabelle. After one too many back and arm injuries, Isabelle has learned not to look back and to squat low at the front — although this only protects her about 10% of the time.

Our unbreakable bond was once broken during our junior year, when our coach decided to spontaneously switch up the disciplines, putting Isabelle as singles and Amy as mixed. This separation led to a tear in fate, disrupting the balance of the universe and leading to Isabelle twisting her right ankle. 

At an attempt to run back to return a clear, Isabelle had tripped on her foot and took a tumble to the ground on her back, with the momentum flipping her feet up into the air as her neck bent. Hobbling off the court, we both stared at Isabelle’s ankle as it doubled in size, a setback that left her on crutches for most of the remaining season.

Our senior year continued with a breeze as we were also in the lower-league, competing against schools that were more at our skill level. Unfortunately, our much anticipated senior night together didn’t happen, as Amy was sick so Isabelle played singles (with no ankle injuries that followed, thankfully).

Our last official game together was at Fremont High, where we played varsity No. 2 Doubles. Having not played with each other in two weeks (due to Amy’s sickness), a combination of nerves and sudden foreignness struck us as we lost the first set terribly. Our comeback during the second and third set, however, made the early failure well worth it. By the third set, the realization that this would be our final time playing as partners unleashed a rush of adrenaline, and soon enough, Amy’s clears and smashes mimicked gunshots as the birdie flew across the court and Isabelle flew speedy net shots that instantly ended rallies. We won the third, tiebreaking set 21-16.

As we look back on four years of badminton, we’ll remember early-morning spring break practices accompanied by donuts and boba as freshmen; sweating and panting heavily after doing painful footwork as sophomores; taking naps and talking on the bus rides to games as juniors and concluding the season with an anxiety-inducing yet satisfying victory. Our badminton bond is something that can never be recreated.

Even when one of us is gone for practice, it feels like a cheating scandal when the other has to play with a different partner. As we both hope to play recreational badminton at our new schools, it will be an adjustment, though Isabelle will likely end up with fewer bruises from backline birdies.