YOUTH IS SERVED IN BADMINTON

The Towson Generals’ domination of Baltimore County surprised even their coach, Cary Sonneborn, whose team won nine of 11 contests at Parkville.

And when the last volley was completed, the visiting birdie bashers had realized their dream.

The Generals won nine of 11 matches to win their second crown in as many season, surprising
even their veteran coach with their effort.

â??From day one of practice, Iâ??ve been reminding the team that our goal was to defend the title. I
wasnâ??t sure if we could do it, but that was our goal for this season,” said coach Cary Sonneborn.

“We have a relatively young team, only one senior starts and we have five sophomores and 10 juniors,” Sonneborn said. “Only six of this yearsâ?? sixteen started on our championship team from last year.”

But the Generals won in dominant fashion, a triumph which could signal a shift in power in the county.

Pikesville had won in 2003, â??04 and â??05, with Dulaney being the team to beat prior to that.

“Their lack of game experience had me concerned throughout the year,” Sonneborn said of his team.
“But time and again, they proved they had the skills to compete with everyone else in the league.â?

The best of eleven games started with three thrilling faceoffs.

In girls’ No. 2 doubles, the Parkville pair of Jasmine Offoha and Sheila Ruiz needed all three matches to defeat Katie Golden and Maddie Sovich, 16-17, 17-15, 15-6.

Meanwhile, the boysâ?? No. 2 doubles also went to three matches, but with Towsonâ??s co-captain, Andrew Reighert, and his partner, Shawn Xiao, defeating Nidhin Babu and Dan Dejong, 15-8, 12-15, 15-13.
 
The boysâ?? No. 3 singles game between Towsonâ??s Blessan Sebastian and Parkvilleâ??s Joseph Markiewicz was also just as exciting. Sebastian lost 12-15 before regaining his stroke to win out, 17-14, 15-7.

In the No. 3 girls’ contest, Angela Lee of Towson bested Xin Ru Pan 15-1, 15-13.

Dulany Wagner of Towson also won in two over Komal Chaubdhry, 15-11, 15-7.

The girlsâ?? No. 1 doubles tandem, Tori Buck and Holly White of Towson, joined in to win in two, 15-3, 15-1 over Rachel Allen and Laraine Ruiz.

At the halfway point, Towson was up 5-to-1 with five games remaining.

Towsonâ??s Ryan Recchia took two from Sydney Mbachu, 15-8, 15-6, effectively clinching the title for the Generals.

But Towson wasn’t done.

In No. 1 girlsâ?? singles, Towsonâ??s Melinda Chen lost the first set 7-15 but stormed back to win 15-11, 15-12.

	Towsonâ??s No. 1 doubles duo of Scott Just and Jimmy Whedbee needed all three games to defeat Ryan Young and Khoi Nguyen, 9-15, 15-6, 15-12. Then the No. 1 boysâ?? game, featuring Parkvilleâ??s Andrew Hilseberg and Towsonâ??s Steven Page, also went to Towson, as Page won 15-7, 15-12. In the final match of the day, Parkville pulled out a win. The Knights’ mixed doubles team of Kieu Nguyen and Shawn Brady defeated Towsonâ??s co-captain Amalie Thavikulwat and partner Shawn Jiang, 15-13, 15-11. The goal, next season, will once again be the same for Sonnebornâ??s racqueteers, who should return fifteen of sixteen starters from this year’s squad.
Co-captains Andrew Reighert (left) and Amalie Thavikulwat (right) display the Towson badminton team’s championship plaque as coach Cary Sonneborn (center) and the rest of the Generals look on. “Their lack of game experience had me concerned throughout the year,” said Sonneborn, who started just one senior. “But time and again, they proved they had the skills to compete.”

â??’Defend The Title’ will our motto,” said Sonneborn, “as we go for the three-peat next season.â?