Barrhaven youngster smashes through badminton competition.
Qufei Chen, 15, left, and Sergiy Shatenko, 18, take a breather from practicing prior to their Junior Canadian National Badminton Championships. Both Chen and Shantenko entered the tournament ranked No. 1, but Shatenko was eliminated in the third round.
Daniel Nugent-Bowman
Before heading to the Junior Canadian National Badminton Championships as the No. 1 seed in her under-16 division, Qufei Chen admitted she was a little concerned.
“It’s always nerve-racking to be first seeded,” she said at the RA Centre near Riverside South just two days prior to the start of the May 1 tournament in Toronto.
But thanks to her father’s advice of drinking lots of soup, eating well, and getting to sleep at 9:30 p.m. every night prior to the event, Chen arrived in the provincial capital in top form.
Armed with a lethal combination of quickness, power, and fitness, the 15-year-old Barrhaven resident won her singles title in convincing fashion, winning all six matches of her in straight sets, including a 21-15, 21-16 victory over Josephine Wu in the final.
“I think it went pretty well,” she said shyly during a phone conversation after the tournament. “Before the match I talked to both my coaches and they told me to relax and try to play. I just tried my best during the match.
“I was really excited after.”
Not only did Chen win in singles play, she earned a third-place showing in doubles with partner Kally Ho.
While she and Ho were the top-ranked pair entering the tournament, Chen wasn’t disappointed with not winning the event.
“We don’t practice much because she’s from Toronto,” she said. “At the RA Centre we don’t practice doubles very much, mainly singles. But we’re friends as well so we mainly try to encourage each other.”
The success Chen enjoyed in Toronto shouldn’t have been much of a surprise.
From March 12 to 14, she won her singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles – with partner Joshua Hurlburt-Yu – at a tournament in Vancouver.
Her results this season has all but assured her a spot in the Pan American Junior Badminton Championships from Aug. 5 to 11 in the Dominican Republic.
“If I qualified, I will go,” the Lisgar Collegiate Institute student said. “So I’m very excited for that.”
daniel.bowman@metroland.com