Speeding into her court, the feathery shuttlecock zoomed towards Angie Hoang, freshman, but luckily her doubles partner, Mai Tram Nguyen, freshman, was available for a drive that won their doubles.
Unfortunately, Hoang and Nguyen’s doubles set was one of few wins that the EC badminton team experienced on Tuesday against the more experienced East Los Angeles College team, resulting in an 18-3 loss.
Although the experience level of ELAC could have been the biggest factor to EC’s loss, the team also did not have it’s No. 1 player Siu Siu, sophomore, due to an illness coach John Britton said.
“It was ill-timed that Siu Siu could not be with us today, but Angie and Mai Tram did very well in place of her,” Britton said. “They won their doubles against a really strong ELAC pairing.”
First-time player Tanille Barnes, freshman, performed exceptionally well in all three of her matches with a 21-15 win in her match and a 21-19 loss in her last two.
“I felt good on the court today, and I feel that I played good matches,” Barnes said. “There were a few mistakes, but all in all my game has gotten a lot better since the beginning of the season.
Not only is this Barnes’ first time on the badminton team, but it is her first time playing badminton in general, Barnes said.
Barnes and her doubles partner Maryam Ilkhani, sophomore, were unable to communicate effectively on the court, which resulted in many unnecessary errors and a loss for their doubles set.
“(Barnes) and I have some work to do on our doubles skills,” Ilkhani said. “If we can correspond to each other more often, then I believe we can grow stronger as a doubles team.”
Before this specific match, the team worked more on moving quickly across the court and gaining a strong grip on their racquets in order to control the shuttlecock easier, Barnes said.
“We have grown a lot since the beginning, but there is still work to be done,” Barnes said.
Although EC’s badminton team has improved, “so have the other opposing teams,” Hoang said. “It’s been a tough season.”
Overall, the game scores were a slight improvement from the last time EC faced ELAC, even without the team’s No. 1 player, Britton said.
“With a little bit of luck we could have won more matches than we did,” Britton said. “They are still getting more experienced with each and every practice and play, but fewer mistakes will mean fewer losses.”