Boys’ Badminton Fills in Gaps for a Strong Season

After a successful last season in which they placed third in their central division, trailing behind Brooklyn Technical High School and Seward Park Campus, the boys’ badminton team is looking forward to a difficult but promising season.

The vast majority of the team’s starting lineup consisted of seniors last year. The doubles teams were led by seniors Alexander Lu (‘18) and Steve Wong (‘18) and juniors Kevin Wang and James Lee, while the singles teams were led by seniors Rihui Zheng (‘18) and Evan Low (‘18). This lineup proved dominant in many of the games and gave the team a chance to play in the playoffs.

But the dominance of these starting players meant less game time for the underclassmen, who are now expected to step up. “This season is going to be tough, especially now that the graduating players have left; we had 10 seniors who left, so filling in that gap is going to be tricky,” senior and co-captain Benjamin Ang said.

Ang believes that matching up to last year may be demanding and difficult because many players are more focused on developing their individual skills rather than playing toward a more cohesive team. He plans to counter this psyche by promoting more team spirit. “In past years we've never really been a team, but I think that kind of mentality only goes so far. It's far more reassuring to know that your entire team is backing you up and supporting you,” Ang said.

Junior Adam Chen also believes in the potential of the new roster. Due to the gap left by graduated seniors, Chen expects underclassmen and the juniors to serve as starters. “In order to fill the gaps now left by graduating players, new additions to the team are necessary, with some talented underclassmen players and also a few [juniors] serving as potential options,” Chen said.

Coach Marvin Autry has been playing a vital role in preparing the team for the season.

To prepare the team, he is making adjustments in the roster by training the team’s underclassmen to develop more advanced game strategies. “Our coach is putting more emphasis on strategy rather than technique and power, which should help against players who have professional coaches outside of school,” Ang said.

The current roster only has five seniors, and this young team may experience contention throughout the season. Nevertheless, the team is expecting an exciting season and will stop at nothing to gain victory.