Second Lieutenant Meagan Duncan
Racquets were swinging and birdies were flying, as the 14 Wing Greenwood badminton team attended the Atlantic Regional Championship tournament December 5 to 9 at Canadian Forces Base Halifax. This was the first regional tournament in several years due to pandemic restrictions.
“It’s a good chance to get back on the court and have some fun,” said Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class Stephane Labrie of CFB Halifax, the chief official for the tournament.
“We weren’t going to have a regional tournament this year because there are no nationals,” said Isaac Habib, sports coordinator from CFB Halifax, “but then we realized, why kill our grass roots sports? We’re trying to encourage more people to compete and bring sports back up to the levels we had pre-COVID.”
The small but mighty “Fantastic Four” Greenwood team of Corporal Conrad Chiasson, Corporal Mike Dooley, Corporal Lorena Laxamana and Second Lieutenant Meagan Duncan faced 10-member teams from CFB Halifax, 12 Wing Shearwater and 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown, as well as a small team of three men from 5 Wing Goose Bay. Greenwood athletes combined and competed in singles, doubles and mixed doubles events.
In women’s singles, Laxamana finished top of her seed by winning every game, facing opponents from Gagetown, Halifax and Shearwater. She advanced through the elimination rounds, only losing in the semi-final to the eventual gold medal winner, Captain Jaime Arnott of Shearwater – herself a familiar face in Greenwood workspaces.
Duncan also went undefeated in her seed, winning games against Gagetown and two Halifax opponents. She was eliminated in the playoff rounds against a higher-seeded player from Gagetown, losing by a few points each set 17-21 and 19-21.
As a pair, Laxamana and Duncan competed in women’s doubles, finishing third over Gagetown, but behind Halifax and Shearwater.
The men’s team faced tough competition during the round robin, but Chiasson and Dooley both won their first singles games of the playoffs against Halifax athletes to advance to the quarterfinals. There, they were each defeated by the top two seeds from Gagetown, who both eventually went on to the gold medal match. In men’s doubles, Chiasson and Dooley finished fourth in Seed 1, winning against the pair from Goose Bay.
Mixed doubles were not successful for Laxamana-Chiasson nor Duncan-Dooley, but they learned a lot from each other and their opponents – and had fun competing.
The Greenwood base badminton team is looking to increase its numbers for the regional tournament next year. Interested athletes may come to practice Thursdays, noon to 2 p.m., at the Fitness & Sports Centre gym, resuming January 12. Contact Chiasson (conrad.chiasson@forces.gc.ca) or sports coordinator Alyssa DeAdder (alyssa.deadder@forces.gc.ca) for more information.
Atlantic Regional results
Singles
Women’s – Captain Jaime Arnott, Shearwater
Men’s – Corporal Kim, Gagetown
Men’s senior (age 35-44) – Master Warrant Officer Andre Crocker, Shearwater
Men’s master (age 45+) – Sergeant Scott Barker, Goose Bay
Doubles
Women’s – Sub-Lieutenant Zoe Cowan & Sub-Lieutenant Stephanie Huang, Halifax
Men’s – Warrant Officer Cody Ruth & Corporal Kim, Gagetown
Seniors – Major Sebastian Therrien & Major Yan Martin, Gagetown
Mixed – Sergeant Chantal Levesque & Corporal Kim, Gagetown
Overall team champion – Gagetown
