Jerry Zhang, Jonathan Chau drive Jericho boys badminton to its third straight Long Island crown
Jerry Zhang of Jericho leans in for the return at the Long Island boys badminton team finals against Commack on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Jerry Zhang and Jonathan Chau experienced it first on Wednesday.
The back-to-back doubles champions won all their matches together since teaming up as sophomores, leading Jericho to its seventh county title last fall. But to have the same number of singles and doubles players as their opponent, Commack, this time, they would have to do it on the singles courts.
Zhang and Chau secured two-set sweeps at third and fourth singles, respectively, which helped Jericho (14-0) secure its third straight Long Island team badminton title with an 8-1 victory over Commack at Smithtown East. Jericho also added to its 49-game win streak.
“We found out about a week ago that we’d be playing singles and since then, we have been playing each other to train,” Chau said. “We essentially taught each other, and the thrill was definitely there today.”
Zhang defeated Brandon Yoo, 21-10, 21-14, and Chau defeated Commack’s Carlos Karaptian, 21-9, 21-13.
“Neither of us have ever played singles but training together is what helped us,” Zhang said. “Both having our first singles win at the same time is great, especially because we’re good friends off the court.”
Jericho picked up its first two points thanks to Chau and Aiden Chen, who defeated Danny Fang, 21-9, 21-15.
Commack’s first doubles team Kevin Ma and Kevin Lee then rallied for a two-set sweep of Caleb Kao and William Wang, 21-19, 21-19, to avoid the shutout.
Jericho pulled away after victories from Howard Zheng, Jerry Huang, Vincent Qiu and Anvit Vemuri, Ryan Cheung and Darwin Zhao, and Jerome Kim and William Zhang.
“It was a special game for me since it was the last one of my career,” said Zheng, who defeated Dean Fang, 21-8, 21-12, at first singles. “This team works hard during practice and after to build our stamina and keep our legacy going.”
First-year coach Anthony LaRosa agreed that hard work helped Jericho remain dominant while in the “off-season.”
“They’re so committed to this sport," said LaRosa. "They are an extremely hardworking group. They won’t leave the gym until the lights turn off. These are top of the line students in the classroom, as well. I give them a lot of credit.”
The Cougars, who were handed their first loss of the season after securing the county championship earlier this week, finished at 16-1.
“We were grateful for the opportunity to play such a strong Jericho team,” Lee said. “It’s a great experience for our team just to have this chance, and we hope we can do it again next year.”
