Coming off a lopsided loss to East L.A., the women’s badminton suffered its second consecutive loss Friday against Pasadena, 16-5.
The Warriors will have a chance to bring their record closer to a .500 winning percentage when they play at home match against Compton on tomorrow at 2 p.m. before traveling to face L.A. City on Wednesday and coming home to host Pasadena March 26.
“We lost a tough one to Pasadena City,” coach John Britton said. “However, I can see our team playing on the same level (as Pasadena) by our next meeting.”
In their match against Pasadena, the Warriors were led by No. 1 player Pavithra Wijratne, who won both of her singles matches, remaining undefeated this season in individual play. Samira Yakubu partnered up with Wijratne for the doubles matches, beating Pasadena’s No. 1 doubles team. However, they were unable to complete the sweep in doubles, as they would lose to Pasadena’s No. 2 team.
“It was a little disappointing that they lost to the No. 2 team,” Britton said. “Usually, if we can beat the No. 1 team, we can take the No. 2 team.”
One of the two points that EC couldn’t capitalize on in doubles was picked up by Erika Areyan, who won one of the singles matches, and added on EC’s fifth point for the afternoon.
“I did OK, but not as good as I should’ve,” Areyan said.
Many players went without a win this time around, individually or in doubles, but they are eager to improve during upcoming matches.
“I did not do very well in my matches against Pasadena,” Maryam Ilkhani said. “However, I feel I’ll get better; I took the badminton class also, so that should help my game improve.”
Britton said that he is already seeing improvement in his squad, which leaves him feeling optimistic going into EC’s next matches.
“In our league, we sort of fall in the middle,” Britton said. “East L.A. is really experienced, and Pasadena was good enough to beat us, but we should be able to get victories against L.A. City and Compton.”
The women’s badminton team is not expecting to just coast to victory, however, it will be playing with a slight handicap.
Britton will have to miss a few days to recover from an injury.
“Just an old soccer injury, nothing serious,” Britton said. “For our next match Tom Hayes will be coaching. I might make it. We’ll see.”
