CREDIT: COURTESY OF FANSHAWE FALCONS
Jodi Grobbecke and Riley Hogan beat Redeemer's team for third place.

Fanshawe Falcons finished with a bronze in women's doubles at the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association provincial badminton championships that were held on February 20 and 21 at Fanshawe College.

Riley Hogan and Jodi Grobbecke beat Redeemer University College's Julie Koopmans and Robyn Bennett 3-2 for the third place. Seneca College's Suzy Yan and Yan Zhou grabbed the gold in women's doubles, while Humber College's Christina Duong and Michelle Chow placed second.

Hogan and Grobbecke played a total of seven games, winning four and losing three, two of those to Humber.

“It was a good tournament for us,” said Falcons badminton coach Matt Plachta.

Falcons Kori Frederick and Alex Dominski competed in the championship's mixed doubles, finishing fifth. The team played five games, losing four and winning one. Humber's Tracy Wong and Adam Dong captured the gold in the division. Wong has now won five consecutive OCAA gold medals. Mohawk College's Kianoosh Moslemi and Victoria Hall placed second, while Cambrian College's Hans Agnihorti and Taylor Cond got the bronze.

“Both the teams that made the provincials made very well,” Plachta said.

Redeemer's Owen Kurvits went undefeated 7-0, winning his second straight gold in men's single. Humber's Olivia Lei also went undefeated 7-0 and placed first in women's single. The men's doubles' gold went to George Brown's Ross Golding and Ogyen Dorjee.

Grobbecker and Hogan placed second behind Humber in February at the OCAA Western Regionals. The duo five games, winning four and losing one to Humber. Frederick and Dominski placed third behind Humber and Mohawk at the Western Regionals, winning four games and losing two.

Neither teams will be competing at the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association national championships, which will be held from March 4 to 7 in Halifax.

As for next year, Plachta says the goal is to build on the team.

“I'm hoping that we have a lot of returning players, and we do,” Plachta said. “I'm hoping to just build on them so we're even stronger next year.”