Badminton: No. 1 player in the nation leads Falcons

With only three years of badminton experience, sophomore Bryan Chow has already gone from a novice to the best of the best.

On Feb. 18-20, Chow won the the Northwest Super Regional Junior Badminton Tournament in Seattle, placing him as the No. 1 boys’ singles player in the nation under the age of 17.

“The whole tournament was pretty difficult, but it felt like all the long hard days of training have finally paid off,” Chow said.

Chow plays the varsity boys’ singles No. 1 spot on the school team. He used to train every day, but now trains four times a week outside of school, for about three hours a day.

Between training for badminton, playing in marching band and doing school work, Chow admits that he does not have much free time.

“Yeah, it’s a lot. During band season I don’t have a lot of time, so I skip a lot of [badminton] practices,” Chow said.

Chow’s passion for badminton has been noted by school coach Alex Chan.

“Bryan is competitive, [but] he doesn’t let his skills and achievements get to his head,” Chan said. “He is also willing to play other players of lower skill level for fun, which is important.”

Chan also claims that though Chow does not train as often as he used to, he does see improvement from last year.

“The difference is subtle, but he has definitely improved. With experience comes confidence and consistency,” Chan said.

The area of greatest progression, according to Chan, is in the way Chow plays his matches mentally.

“Badminton requires you to read your opponents’ movements. You’ve got to be faster physically and mentally,” he said. “Bryan has improved on both.”

Although Chow receives strong support from his parents in badminton, he says that school always comes first for him. If badminton were to ever distract him too much from school, he would have to quit.

This year, the badminton team has played two scrimmages so far, beating Newark Memorial on Feb. 28 by a score of 19-11 and losing to Mission San Jose on March 1 by a score of 24-6. The team’s first league match is against Wilcox on March 15.

Chan hopes that Chow will lead the school to a victory at CCS.

“I look forward to seeing him compete in CCS singles this year and winning it,” Chan said. “If he doesn’t get injured, he has a good chance.”