"That's it!" claimed Randy Schuster, coach of the Yorkton Regional High School (YRHS) badminton club following their regional playoff which the Yorkton school hosted on Saturday.
The YRHS had three entries in the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletics Association (SHSAA) badminton tournament, including: Darren Tillman (boys' singles), Brittany Brenzen (girls' singles), and the boys' doubles team of Adam Stokes and Michael Lockhart.
"The competition was really good," observed coach Shuster. "Every one of them had a shot at second (place)," he was quick to point out.
The way competition was set up, any player from any team, needed a first or second place finish in order to qualify for provincial play, he said.
Teams competing included: Oxbow, Rocanville, Maryfield, Midale, Weyburn, Estevan, Yellow Grass, Englefield, Foam Lake, Wakaw, Annaheim, Raymore, Middle Lake, YRHS and SHHS. Teams were broken down into two pools.
When it came to individual breakdowns, he said the YRHS contingent was in good shape to say the least.
"He's a very good badminton player," he said of boys' singles player Tillman, adding "he just needs to work on execution."
Tillman fell to Oxbow in a close opening set, 19-21 and then in the second set, 12-21. He took Qu'Appelle 2 to three sets.
Tillman lost the opener 19-21, won the second, 21-14 and lost the final 18-21. Justin Vidak of Englefield proved to be too much for the local, winning 21-10 and 21-12.
Schuster added that during the badminton season, YRHS won their fair share of medals and he wasn't sure what to expect from the weekend playdowns because most of the teams were new to him.
"Each player (on YRHS) gets one tournament," he said, adding that "the teams we play, they play in all their tournaments-they get more experience."
Schuster said that experience "helps when the game is close".
He added that the Regional team only had about nine practices all season long and five tournaments.
"That was tough," he said.
Brenzen, who had a strong outing at districts in Melville a few weeks back, came out okay on Saturday then disaster struck, says Schuster.
"She did okay here but she popped her ankle in her first match."
Brenzen still managed to put together 19 points in her final game, notes Schuster.
