Jericho girls badminton's Jasmine and Jessica Peng win Nassau doubles championship
Jasmine Peng, left, and sister Jessica Peng of Jericho pose for a photo after winning the championship match of the Nassau girls badminton individual doubles championship at Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK Middle School. Credit: Joe Orovitz
Jericho’s sister act came into the Nassau individual girls badminton championships as the top seed, but after the first set of the doubles final, Jasmine and Jessica Peng found themselves needing to tap into their chemistry to make a comeback.
The sisters defeated second-seeded Eva Westbay and Shirleen Li of Great Neck South, 18-21, 21-8, 21-8, at Plainview-Old Bethpage Middle School Saturday.
“She’s a senior and she’s going to graduate soon, so being able to play with her this year was a great opportunity,” Sophomore Jessica Peng said. "I think our relationship really helps, because we can communicate honestly and that helps us improve.”
After falling in the first set, the Peng sisters responded with a dominant performance in the second, taking an early 5-0 advantage and running away with a 21-8 win.
“I think our nerves kicked in during the first set,” Jessica Peng said. “We were able to adapt to their play style and learn from our mistakes heading into the second.”
Jericho’s duo grabbed an early 7-6 lead in the third and maintained an advantage throughout. Westbay and Li stood within striking distance, never trailing by more than four points, but the Peng’s had an answer for every rally and took the set, 21-18.
“We approached that last set just taking things one point at a time,” Jasmine Peng said. “We never let the last point affect the next one.”
The Peng’s defeated fifth-seeded Veronica Li and Nandika Salhotra of Syosset in the semifinals. Li and Salhotra claimed third place, defeating No. 6 Shoriya Bhat Bhandarkar and Liza Chan of Port Washington.
Wickramasinghe earns back-to-back titles
Calhoun's Siddhangi Wickramasinghe entered the competition as the top singles seed and impressed for the second straight year.
Wickramasinghe defeated second-seeded Sandra Chen of Jericho, 21-16, 21-18, in a rematch of last year’s final.
“I definitely got nervous going into the match,” Wickramasinghe said. “But I try to use those nerves and turn them into the adrenaline that I need to get into my zone and really hyper-focus my game.”
The junior used an impressive array of cross-court shots and speeds to keep her opponents guessing.
Wickramasinghe defeated No. 4 Katherine Cheung of Great Neck South in the semifinals. Chen defeated teammate Judy Liang, the 14-seed, to move into the final. Liang earned third place with a three-set win over Cheung.
“I had a really tough match in the regular season, where I was off my game,” Wickramasinghe said. “I was missing serves, hitting it out and I needed to really fight in that match and just realized I could be better. That helped prepare me for today.”
Christopher Matias covers high school sports for Newsday after spending time in Athletic Facilities and Operation at St. John’s and in Sports Information at CUNY York college.
