Langara badminton team looks to take on Douglas College rivals

The Langara Falcons badminton team hopes to secure their lead in the PacWest standings this Friday at Thompson Rivers University.

The team is currently ahead of reigning champions Douglas College Royals. Langara won the first tournament of the season at Douglas College but lost to the Royals at the second tournament held at Vancouver Island University, which placed the Falcons in second.

“They [Douglas College] have a powerhouse team,” said coach Marc Petreman.

However, given the strong performance Langara had against Douglas College in the first half of the season, Petremen believes they can win.

“If we played to our full potential, I really believe we can win,” said Petreman, looking back to their victory at Douglas College.

Langara’s main competition 

Petreman believes Douglas College is their main threat, adding other schools “all have a couple of strong teams. However, we have the overall stronger team.”

Ashley Jang, who plays in the mixed doubles and the women’s doubles teams, is also extremely confident that the Falcons can take home the gold.

She is recovering from a torn ACL, injured in August 2012. Despite the setback, she and Nathan Choi placed second in both tournaments in the mixed-doubles bracket. In addition, she and Florina Lau placed second and third in the women’s doubles bracket in both tournaments.

She praised her new team and is glad that her teammates are giving it their all.

“This team is good compared to other years,” said Jang. “About 90 per cent of our practices, everyone shows up.”

She also believes that she is returning to her full potential as her knee heals, and expects to be in first place.

Reported by Edrick Dudang