Surge hold their own at 2023 Badminton Championships

Surge varsity badminton competed at the OCAA Championships this past weekend in Aurora, Ontario. Hosted by Seneca College, the tournament featured fierce competition from Fanshawe, Centennial, Conestoga, Humber, Cambrian, and Seneca.

The returning dynamic duo of Surge’s Brandon Watkins and Afsar Chowdhury were primed for men’s doubles action after qualifying for the championship tournament. In day one competition, the pair faced off against Cambrian, Humber, Seneca, and Conestoga and netted a respectable 2-2 record. They defeated Cambrian (15-21, 21-13, 21-15) and Conestoga (21-15, 21-17) while falling to Humber (21-17, 21-15) and the host, Seneca (19-21, 21-11, 21-16).

Day two started off strong with a convincing win over Centennial (21-15, 21-12), but lost pace, falling to Seneca (23-21, 21-14) in the semi-finals. The bronze medal game was highly contested by both sides, but it was SLC who took control first after an exciting 24-22 set. The lead didn’t last long, unfortunately, as Centennial bounced back to take the series and bronze medal by a final score of 24-22, 17-21, 21-16. 

In the men’s singles bracket, rookie Nadeem Nahaz competed for the Surge. Day one saw Nadeem get in the win bracket in second game, beating Fanshawe (21-15, 22-20) after losing to the eventual champion, Colin Zhou of Centennial (21-14, 21-4) in his opening match. With an overall two-day record of 1-3, Nadeem was unable to make it to the finals.

Full championship results: click here.