Jericho girls badminton wins back-to-back Nassau championships
Great Neck South's Elva Wong, left, and Emily Zhang high-five after a point against Jericho during the Nassau girls badminton team championship at Plainview-Old Bethpage Middle School on Monday. Credit: Brittney Dietz
Jericho girls badminton is no stranger to perfection. A season ago, the team finished the year undefeated and now it is one step closer to doing it again.
Top-seeded Jericho defeated second-seeded Great Neck South, 4-3, at Plainview-Old Bethpage Middle School on Monday to win its second straight Nassau badminton title and its 35th consecutive match.
Eighth-grader Olivia Liu was the first to step off the court as a winner, defeating Great Neck South’s Emma Chi, 21-9, 21-13, at second singles.
“I was obviously a bit nervous coming in,” Liu said. “But I told myself that this is what I’ve been training for and I just needed to believe in my abilities.”
Jericho (17-0) took all three singles matches. Sandra Chen defeated Katherine Cheung, 21-10, 21-7, at first singles and Judy Liang defeated Emma Ding, 21-10, 21-13, at third singles.
“We have a young team and it’s been fun to see everyone cultivate their skills,” Liang said. “Everyone has grown and even the people who came here as beginners, you really see how their skills have improved.”
Sisters Jasmine and Jessica Peng clinched the victory for Jericho with a 21-17, 21-14 win over Eva Westbay and Shirleen Li at first doubles.
“I think with school testing being over, we’re all more relaxed at this point than throughout the season,” Liang said. “We warmed up together and the energy that everyone brought allowed us to feed off each other.”
Great Neck South (14-3) took the final three doubles matchups as Jess Jacob and Michelle Ye won at second doubles, Isabella Fong and Tressa Li won at third doubles and Elva Wong and Emily Zhang won at fourth doubles.
“In the past, we’ve had a bit more depth, but our second, third and fourth doubles teams have really come together as the year progressed,” Jericho coach Mark Burkowsky said. “They may have suffered losses today, but we’ve seen how well they can play.”
Jericho will aim for its second straight Long Island championship when it takes on Suffolk champion Ward Melville on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Commack High School.
“I’m telling you these girls are already prepared for it,” Burkowsky said. “I have to move some things around because Suffolk plays five singles and Nassau doesn’t, but everyone on this team is ready.”
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.
