Del Norte takes two individual badminton titles

In the heart of San Diego, the CIF San Diego Section Badminton Championships took place Saturday at the Balboa Park Activity Center.

 

 

One week after losing to Patrick Henry High School in the team championships, Del Norte High edged out the Patriots in the number of individual championships with two.

 

 

Top-seeded Pradyun Gowda from Del Norte defeated second-seeded Charles Du from Mira Mesa in 21-4, 21-10 to win the boys singles title. Gowda jumped out to a 6-0 lead and was up 11-1 in the first set. After being up 5-3 in the second, Gowda took six straight points, giving Del Norte its first title in boys singles.

 

 

 

The top five players and teams in boys singles and boys doubles along with the top four in girls singles, girls doubles and mixed doubles all qualified for next week’s regionals on May 24 at Arcadia High School.

 

 

 

“A usual, consistency of excellence in Pradyun,” Del Norte coach Michael Buxton said. “He will be a star player for the next several years. His finesse game is consistently getting better and better, and he’s going to be a star player in CIF for the next two years.”

 

 

 

Del Norte’s second title came in mixed doubles, where top-seeded Meghana Nishant and Mihir Thaha defeated No. 7 seed Jojo Dinh and Kayla Pham 21-9, 21-9. The duo jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the opening set. In the second set, Nishant and Thaha scored five straight points to take a 10-2 lead.

 

 

 

“There’s a synergy there that’s kind of unprecedented today,” Buxton said of Nishant and Thaha. “They continue to be excellent in their own right, and a great and powerful team.”

It marks the second straight individual title for both Thaha and Gowda, who teamed up last year to win the boys doubles title.

 

 

 

In girls singles, Rancho Bernardo’s top-seeded Justine Yong took down No. 2 Amy Hu from Westview in straight sets, 21-3, 21-1. It marks Yong’s second straight singles title.

 

 

 

In boys doubles, second-seeded Vansh Vinod and Sean Chen from Scripps Ranch upset top-seeded Hunter Tran and Brandon Tran from Canyon Hills 21-17, 21-17. It marked the fifth time this year both pairs squared off as the Rattlers’ duo won the previous four meetings.

 

 

 

In girls doubles, top-seeded Abby Taing and Katie Ha from Patrick Henry defeated No. 3-seeded Hannah Lov-Truong and Bryanna Tran from Canyon Hills 21-15, 21-12. Taing and Ha scored five straight points to get set point in the first set. The Patriots closed out the second set by winning the final four points