Climbing back from subpar ‘22 season, badminton wins in three early matches

The team captains play a match during practice on March 13.

With wins against Wilcox, Cupertino, and Palo Alto, the Falcons have had a promising start to the season.

The badminton team has leaped to a strong start. The Falcons gained a 19-11 win against Palo Alto High on March 16. Although they were whipped 24-6 by Milpitas on March 14, they beat Wilcox 16-14 on March 7, and Cupertino 18-12 on March 9.

Last year, the team ended with a 1-9 record, losing against every team except for Gunn. Many players attributed this to the highly competitive nature of teams in the higher-level De Anza league, which they are still in this year.

The team is looking to get a new strength and conditioning coach this season that will allow all players to improve on their individual skills. The Falcons are coached by Thomas Ching who has emphasized strength and conditioning.

So far, they’ve seen overall improvement in team spirit and performance, something junior doubles player Stephanie Chung attributes early success to the team’s new lineups.

“You really get used to who you’re playing with, whereas last year, the lineups changed every match, and you had to get used to your partner during warmups,” Chung said.

Both this year and last year, the team has seen an influx in freshmen on the roster. According to senior captain Tony Guo, who plays boys doubles, said that many freshmen who are looking to get out of P.E. see the sport as an easy way out but have learned to like the sport.

“At first I wanted to get out of P.E., but then I realized how many friends I could make,” freshman boys doubles player Lucius Ko said. “It is a lot more challenging than I thought, but it has been really fun.”

On the other hand, several freshmen players with previous experience in the sport, including Ishir Gutpa, who plays men’s doubles, Kritika Kalani, who plays girls doubles, and Eliza Lin, who plays mixed doubles. All these players have already established themselves as strong members.

“I think a lot of them might be new to the sport, and they might not have the basics down right away, but I think they all have a lot of potential and are adjusting really quickly,” Chung said.

Though they won three of their first four matches, the captains have begun to scope out their upcoming opponents — some potential difficult challenges they foresee are against Lynbrook and Monta Vista.

“So far this season everyone’s been performing extremely well,” Guo said. “It’s pretty impressive how everyone keeps their fighting spirits up till the last point, which is why we have so many great matches and a lot of tiebreakers,” Guo said.