A thrilling match by Matt Brandsma and Sungjun Jang late in the event helped Duncan Christian School clinch second place at the North Island high school badminton championships on April 27 and 28 and advance to the Island tournament.
Brandsma and Jang came back from a 19-13 deficit in their third set against Alberni District to prevail 23-21.
“Under amazing pressure, these two Chargers played with confidence and determination to claw their way back, point after point, to win the match,” DCS athletic director Tom Veenstra said.
DCS beat Alberni 6-5 in the crossover playoff series thanks to victories by Brandsma and Jung in boys doubles, Danielle Groenendijk and Rebecca Bakker in girls doubles, Minseok Kim and Adam Kapteyn in boys doubles, Rachelle VanBoven in girls singles, Dennis Jiang in boys singles, and VanBoven and Jiang in mixed doubles.
Dover Bay, who beat Ucluelet 9-2 in their crossover series, will go to Islands as the top seed from the North by virtue of their round-robin win over DCS, also by a 9-2 score.
DCS swept their round-robin series against Lake Cowichan and Chemainus by 11-0 scores.
Against Lake Cowichan, the Chargers got two wins each from Groenendijk and Bakker in girls doubles, Dianna Hoeft and Jordan Mitchell in girls doubles, Kapteyn and Malachi Wall in boys doubles, and Brandsma and Jang in boys doubles, and one win each from Kim in boys singles, VanBoven in girls singles, and Kim and VanBoven in mixed doubles.
Against Chemainus, the Chargers got two wins each from Groenendijk and Bakker in girls doubles, Hoeft and Mitchell in girls doubles, Kim and Kapteyn in boys doubles, and Brandsma and Jang in boys doubles, and one win each from VanBoven in girls singles, Jiang in boys singles, and VanBoven and Jiang in mixed doubles.
The two match victories by DCS over Dover Bay came from Kim and Kapteyn in boys doubles and Jiang in boys singles.
With seven teams participating, the 2016 tournament was the largest North Island championship to date.
Behind Dover Bay and DCS, Alberni finished third and Ucluelet fourth. Nanaimo District was fifth, followed by Lake Cowichan in sixth and Chemainus seventh.
The Island tournament will be played on May 18.