Jericho boys badminton wins ninth straight Nassau title behind key doubles win from Matthew Tang and Michael Meng
Jericho wins the Nassau boys badminton team championship in Plainview on Thursday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
On the way to Plainview-Old Bethpage Middle School Thursday afternoon, Jericho boys badminton coach Anthony LaRosa shared some wisdom with his Jayhawks, who were in search of a ninth consecutive Nassau championship.
“I said, the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror,” LaRosa said. “You can’t harp on the things in the past; you got to look at what’s ahead of you.”
It rang in the minds of fourth doubles duo Matthew Tang and Michael Meng as they battled back in the second game and found themselves trailing by two late in the third game against Great Neck South’s Aidan Wu and Kelton Yu. It was the third meeting between the duos, with Tang and Meng having lost both regular-season meetings.
Thursday, however, belonged to Tang, Meng and the Jayhawks.
As Meng delivered a smash over the net, Tang fell to his knees in triumph as the gym erupted to celebrate top-seeded Jericho’s thrilling 4-3 win over No. 2 Great Neck South. The two clinched the title with a 22-24, 21-18, 22-20 win.
“I just really love the encouragement [LaRosa] gave us,” Tang said. “It’s just crazy that we were the decider.”
“These guys work so hard,” LaRosa said. “I’m really glad they were the ones to get it done for us.”
It was a different type of season for Jericho, one that saw it lose a 70-game win streak to Great Neck South in September before rattling off 14 consecutive triumphs.
“That loss kind of gave them a little bit of a spark,” LaRosa said.
Tang, a junior, and Meng, a senior, trailed 13-15 midway through the second game before eventually taking a 19-18 lead.
“We trust each other,” Meng said. “It’s not a game by yourself; it’s a game with the whole team.”
Jericho (16-1) gained its points earlier in the meet as second singles Aiden Chen defeated Shenglin Tang, 21-18, 21-13. Third singles Justin Liu beat Jason Luo, 21-16, 21-16, and second doubles Henry Qui and Ryan Chan won, 21-19, 21-14, over Jinyuan Chen and Jeremy Oak.
Great Neck South (15-2) won a thriller at first singles when Arthur Xu, whose diving backhand won the first game 23-21, followed with 18-21, 21-18 victories against Edward Chang. First doubles duo Mofan Yu and Botond Acosta avenged its individual tournament loss to Owen He and Alex Li, 21-15, 21-14.
Meng made sure to credit his teammates for preparing him and Tang for the match, noting “the small things” pointed out from singles players. A year ago, Tang was an alternate and Meng wasn’t on the team, instead focusing on swimming.
“This year, my point meant something,” Tang said. “It’s a very nice feeling to know I have a spot on this team and that I helped them win.”
It’s a thing none of the Jayhawks will forget anytime soon.
Michael Sicoli covers high school sports for Newsday. He graduated from Quinnipiac in 2022 and left with a master’s degree in sports journalism in 2023.
