Badminton intramural tournament smashes into action

An intramural doubles badminton tournament had college students in full swing last week.

The one-day tournament on Dec. 9 brought teams of students to play badminton throughout the day.

Stephanie Rheaume, the campus recreation coordinator for the Students’ Association, said the intramural doubles badminton tournament guaranteed students three games in the round-robin and before the crossover semifinals and the finals.

“It’s a little bit more loosey-goosey and people should have fun that way without the stress and pressure of too much competition but still having that competition with an award at the end,” she said.

Rheaume expects the intramural badminton tournament to bring more participation to the game and for students to have fun, especially with an honorary system without officials.

Second-year police foundations student Ishan Duggal of Ottawa said he just had his first game. It’s exciting and fun how Algonquin College is doing community events such as tournaments and intramurals, Duggal said.

“I can speak on behalf of the badminton community — we really enjoy it and we’re looking forward to the tournaments that are coming up,” Duggal said. “It’s a perfect time to release and have fun.”

An international student from India, Joyad Joseph, who is in his second year of interactive media, said there were many teams available to play.

“We have a lot of talented players, we meet new players and we have many techniques to learn from them,” said Joseph. “We have people all around the world and we can say we like each one of them. They have their styles and tactics.”

Abel Roney, also from the interactive media program, said the tournament is special.

“Everyone is bringing their A-game and it’s exciting to see everyone around here,” he said. “Every couple of days, every week, you can come out and meet people. You need to find your people and be good at it.”

Rheaume said there would be one or two more tournaments next semester — one at the beginning and one at the end.

“We don’t have a league yet. That is something that I’ve considered doing. It’s just a little bit harder with limited numbers. For instance, I have teams for my other sports, bringing in many students, but we offer open badminton on Wednesday and Friday mornings,” she said.