Prior to 2005, the UCSD badminton team had never won both the national and league championships in the same season. During the 2003-04 campaign, the team captured the league title, but finished third in the national championship at Stanford University. But this season, the Tritons surged to victory in both the national and league championships. The team finished undefeated, and won the league championship for the second year in a row.
“Our main goal this season was to take both league and national championships,” men’s co-captain junior David Lamb said. “We would not be able to settle for anything less.”
The Tritons indeed did not settle for less.
“We were very disappointed that we did not succeed at winning nationals last year,” men’s co-captain Scott Bering said. “But this season we were fully committed to winning it all.”
The team enjoyed homecourt advantage during the national tournament on March 18 through March 20 against badminton powerhouses UC Berkeley, UCLA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford. The national victory was the Tritons’ second badminton title in three years. The team also won in 2003, but failed to dominate the league against UC Irvine during the same year.
“We showed a lot of great teamwork at the game,” women’s captain sophomore Angela Gozali said. “Everyone was out there supporting every single one of our members.”
The tournament consisted of five different events where the top eight men and top eight women on each team compete. The eight players selected from each team are awarded points for each victory, and the team with the most points at the end of the tournament wins the championship.
Although the Tritons beat the Bruins, 9-6, during the regular season, they had to beat them again in order to win nationals.
“Even though UCLA had a great core of players with a lot of experience, we were not afraid because Coach Walker had taught us everything it takes to win,” Bering said.
Freshman Eva Lee dominated the women’s field as both an individual and as a partner. Lee captured first place in the women’s singles, the women’s doubles with junior Caroline Chen and in the mixed doubles with senior Janvier Wijaya.
“The girls on UCLA’s squad improved a lot and played tremendously,” Bering said. “We were just simply better.”
Gozali echoed Bering’s praise of the women’s team.
“Our girls are good enough to beat many of the guys’ teams from other schools,” she said. “That just shows how excellent our team really is.”
The team had a large number of freshmen who came out to play on the team during the fall. A lot of universities have trouble fielding a full roster of both sexes to compete. The UCSD team this season had over 20 members.
“The difference between this year and last season is the fact that we had a lot of depth,” Lamb said. “We had a strong core of returnees and a great group of rookies. We were also a little bit older than in years past. We had a strong lineup all the way through compared to other seasons when we always had a few holes.”
After winning the national championship, the team continued to see a booming interest in the sport’s popularity at UCSD.
“I was happy to see that there were about 15 new people at open gym the week after we won the national championship,” Lamb said. “Hopefully, the news will also trickle down to the incoming freshmen for next season.”
The badminton schedule differs from many other club and NCAA sports: The national championship takes place before the league season is finished. Even after winning nationals, the Tritons still had to focus on wrapping up league play. The team concluded the season with victories over San Diego State, CalTech and Cal Poly.
“We were able to show how strong our team really was by winning both league and nationals,” Gozali said. “If we did not win both, we would have felt that we would not have prepared enough.”
The team received exceptional performances from Stephanie Obayashi, Deana Tran, Elaine Liu, Chay Taing, Josh Barroga and Tanto Wibowo.
“Our coach got us new uniforms for league, nationals and the different tournaments,” Gozali said. “They really made us feel like we were a team.”
Coach Mike Walker, who has had professional badminton experience, led the team to both titles. Walker also helped the team acquire brand new uniforms that are different from the typical T-shirt and shorts that most universities are outfitted with.
“I definitely felt like if I dressed good, I would feel good,” Gozali said. “And when I am feeling good, I will play good.”
The team will only be losing three seniors from this year’s squad before attempting to defend its title in the 2005-06 season.
“I am very confident that we can repeat both championships next year,” Bering said. “We have people that can step up and take the places of our graduating seniors. Hopefully our recent string of success will bring a lot more interest to the sport. I hope that one day badminton will be considered an NCAA sport.”
Athletes who are interested in badminton or students wanting to learn more about the sport can attend open gym at Main Gym every Saturday evening at 7 p.m.
