Badminton: defeated Falcons still remain optimistic

Losing to Gunn 16-14 on April 26 and Monta Vista 20-10 at home on April 24, the Falcons have lost their chances of tying with Cupertino as league champions.

With three games left in the season, the Falcons are hanging on to their current third-place position in the De Anza league.

“I’m a little disappointed because we seemingly had a good chance to [become league champion] this year since we had a really close game with Monta Vista the first time,” senior Amanda Wu said. “It would’ve been fun to experience a league championship but everyone who played tried their best.”

According to team manager junior Tiffany Yung, the game against Monta Vista was determined by only a few points.

“[A lot] of games were very close, especially in mixed doubles 2 and 3—the games split,” Yung said.

Since beating Monta Vista was crucial to the path to becoming league champions, the defeat was hard to swallow.

“This year was probably the year we had the best chance of actually winning leagues because it's [Jeff Kuo’s] last year,” Yung said. “I think after our loss to Cupertino and [Monta Vista], a lot of the team just gave up. [Additionally], there wasn't any set lineup for each week.”

Despite the disappointment, Yung said that the team performed the best they could under the circumstances. 

“I think we put up a good fight and in the end, you win some battles and lose some,” Yung said.

Midway through the season, coach Alex Chan recruited the help of George Chu, junior Lauren Chu’s father and Cynthia Chao, junior Derek Chao’s mother.

“George has been instrumental in helping with the team's line-up, and Cynthia with training the varsity girls in doubles and mixed with their rotation and net work,” Chan said. “Without the help of the parents in their different capacity, our team would not be where they are today.  We would surely have won less.”

The players are also very grateful for the parents’ efforts.

“When Derek’s mom came to help, that was really exciting because we were finally training … I think that was the first time someone taught me how to rotate properly [in a game],” senior Angie Chang said.

The team also lost 20-10 to Milpitas on May 3. The league finals, hosted at Cupertino, started on May 5. 

“I hope that we just have fun for the rest of the season because now we don't have the focus and pressure of leagues,” Yung said.