Midwinter Badminton In
Wisconsin
No sport can develop and strengthen without roots. The Jogis', the Hussey’s, the Pontow’s have to come from somewhere. While badminton in this country has suffered from near invisibility, there are encouraging signs that grassroot support for badminton is growing.
In spite of the bitter winter chill, the parking lot across from the University of Wisconsin Natatorium was crowded with cars of badminton enthusiasts (making it difficult for spectators of the state high school swimming meet next door to find space). Once again, the heartiness, determination, and loyalty of badminton players was amply demonstrated as over 70 entrants participated in the 3rd annual Brooks Big Badger Badminton Bash at the UW on 13 February 1988. Pockets of badminton players from Madison, Milwaukee, and Rockford were, as usual, in evidence, but this year a group from Baraboo (organized by Dan Dingman) made their first appearance, as did a large number of students from Sandy Norton’s UW classes. The accent was decidedly on youth.
The open Singles Class A and B championships were won by relative youngsters. Soren Malling, a Danish high school exchange student, provided a masterful display of badminton skills European style as he seemed almost to glide effortlessly through the draw. Gilbert Verghese’ athletic ability and quickness fell 15-8, 15-9 to Malling's powerful, smooth as silk shot-making. Wisconsin Junior Champion David Brenneis captured the B’s. The emergence of youth was even more visible in the Womens/Juniors Singles, an event put together to accommodate some younger juniors. Prasant Bhave, a wisp of a youngster from Rockford, let it be known that he will be heard from again. By never giving up on a shot, he worked his way systematically to the top of the A’s. One defeated opponent was heard to mutter good-naturedly: “No more small bodies, please!” Two more youngsters, brothers Dan and Chris Hayes, worked their way to the C and D finals respectively, where Chris captured the title and Dan put up a real fight in finishing runner-up.
Tournament directors work hard to seed players in such a way to make for progressively more competitive matches and sometimes succeed, as happened in the Open Doubles where the A, B, and C finals all went to 3 games, and the D final was decided by 8 points. The match of the day was the A finals where youth (David Brenneis) paired with experience (Brent Harvey) triumphed in a sterling contest with UW students Gilbert Verghese and Marcel Husson. The steady smash return of Brenneis drove their opponents back enough to make Harvey’s drop game just barely more effective than the agility and offensive power of Verghese and Husson: 15-12, 12-15, 18-16. The B finals was another tournament directors dream (a 3 game victory for Mike Rousse and Viranjit Madan over Al Law and Mike Lee) – and nightmare, since it lasted over an hour while Mixed Doubles went awaiting. When the last shuttle was played, the Mixed went to Womens/Juniors A runner-up Judith Maiyor and her partner Sammy Lee in a come from behind 3 game victory.
The day ended as all badminton tournaments do: Satisfaction, for winners and losers, the prospect of aching muscles, sweaty handshakes all round, and tired but eager voices looking forward to “next time”.