As the reigning champions of CIF, the Diamond Bar badminton team defeated its rival Wilson, taking the 15 out of the 21 games. DB started off slowly but was able to get a great performance from the whole team as it remains undefeated for the season. “It was a great win and a great learning experience for the players in such a hostile environment,” coach Kemp Wells said.
The Brahmas started the match off on the right foot as two out of the three mixed double teams defeated all of their opponents. The number one mixed double team of senior co-captain Samantha Li and senior Franklin Yu defeated Wilson’s number one team in the first round 11-8 and 11-2. Freshman Krista Hsu and junior Curtis Li, who make up the number two mixed double team, dominated their first opponent 11-3 and 11-2 giving the Brahmas the early lead.
All of DB’s girls doubles team won their matches in a quick and steady fashion. Both the number one girls doubles team of Samantha Li and senior co-captain Carissa Chung and the number two team consisting of juniors Jenny Quan and Francine Nguyen bageled their opponents. The boys teams, however, faced difficulties in defeating their opponents. The number one boys double team of Curtis Li and junior Adrian Sim started their first game down 7-11 after the first set, but was able to rally back with great defense and win the next two sets 11-4 and 11-3. In the second round, the team of Curtis Li and Sim dominated their opponent 11-0 and 11-4. “I did pretty well towards the end after having a shaky beginning,” Curtis Li said.
The girls singles teams helped the Brahmas gain a strong lead. Hsu destroyed her competition allowing only one point. in four sets. “It feels great bageling my competition,” Hsu commented. Freshman Kristine Martinez also defeated her first opponent 11-2 and 11-3 but lost the second round game in three sets.
The boys singles team however, had some trouble as it could not win a set. However, DB finished the match, defeating the Wildcats 15-6.
The Brahmas have a number of strong individual players in Samantha Li, Curtis Li, and Sim. However, DB’s strength lies in the team as a whole as there is no one Brahma player who is considered the “weak link.” The Brahmas come into every match as the team to beat and have to bring their strongest performance every game.
With many of the team’s starters staying for another season, the Brahmas are determined to become CIF champions for the second consecutive time. “Having many players from last years’ team come back with, the team is just as strong as and maybe even better than last years,” Wells stated. As the season goes on, DB expects to dominate every opponent they have. “We want to destroy and win it all,” Chung said.
