Varsity Badminton fell to Lynbrook High School 25-5 on Thursday, March 19. According to junior and mixed doubles player Nandita Joshi, the team knew going into the game that LHS was a strong school and would be difficult to beat. However, Joshi says the Matadors persevered, often only losing matches by a few points.
Despite this game, Joshi feels the season is going well and hopes the team will continue working hard during practices. Especially as there are many freshmen on the team, she also highlights the importance of applying more of their coaches’ feedback during games and practices in order to train everyone to the highest level possible.
“Despite the score, I’m just happy to see the kind of plays that are going on,” Joshi said. “Everyone’s trying their best no matter what the score is gonna be, and putting in that effort and playing until the very last point is really important.”
Sophomore and doubles player Aiden Wong won MVHS’s first match of the game with his partner, senior Amish Tyagi. Although MVHS lost, he feels the team has been improving overall in both training and applying feedback.
“I think our training has been showing,” Wong said. “People are getting pretty close games, like with Lucas Liu and Nandita Joshi, but Lynbrook is just overall better than us. With my partnership with Amish, our teamwork has been better in terms of our coordination around the court. The only mistake we had was just being inconsistent with our shots. But otherwise, our strategy and teamwork was pretty good.”
In addition to their overall skill level and teamwork, Joshi adds that the team has had strong team spirit. She emphasizes that the support from teammates is crucial to both individual and team performance.
“I’m definitely seeing a lot more people, especially as the game goes on, standing or on the sides, cheering on their teammates,” Joshi said. “I think that can always help during your game. Having a little support from your teammates definitely helps you play better, and vice versa.”
Sophomore Aiden Wong lunges forward to receive the birdie during his boys double match with senior Amish Tyagi. Photo | Melody Lin