With Yokino Noro, 23, not being able to play at the last minute due to the earthquake in Japan, other players on the team had to step up and compete.

 “She’s from a town (in Japan) that was ripped apart by the tsunami, so she’s trying to locate her family,” coach John Britton said. “Our thoughts are with her.”

However, even without Noro, one of the most experienced players on the team, the Warriors managed to get their first win of the season.

The Warriors defeated the Compton College Tartars 19-2 last Friday.

The team will have a showdown against East L.A. College at home at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Due to the inexperience of the Compton College team, Britton said he was confident that the Warriors would have a good chance at pulling out a victory against the Tartars.

“It feels good, we worked hard,” Tanelle Barnes, 19, said. “I was pretty confident going in to the game because a lot of the players (on the Compton team) were beginners.”

The team was also at an advantage due to the cancellation of some of its previous games, resulting in extra practice sessions.

The team has not played since the Warriors were completely overmatched by East L.A. College.

 The Warriors lost in the season opener to East L.A. by a score of 21-0 on Feb. 23.

The team has improved its season record to 1-1.

“The days we were supposed to be playing were turned into practice sessions,” Britton said.  “It actually helped us a lot and it was good for the (women) to get the extra practice.”

The previous four games were canceled to allow Britton, former U.S. Men’s National Champion for doubles, to attend the 100th anniversary of Scottish badminton where the patron of Scottish badminton, Prince Edward, was present.

“I used to play for Scotland before I came to America, and so I got honored as the top doubles player of the last century,” Britton said.

During Britton’s absence, his daughter, winner of several U.S. Junior badminton championships, took charge of the team and led the practices.

Britton said the additional practice for players showed instant results with new players Vanessa Reid winning her first doubles match and Ramie Flamengo winning two singles matches and a doubles match.

“Considering I’ve only been to four practices and I’ve never played badminton before, it was totally new to me and so when I won I was just like ‘Oh, that’s exciting!’” Flamengo said. “I totally wasn’t expecting it. “