After a series of intense matches, Varsity Badminton fell to Cupertino High School 19-16 on Tuesday, March 25. MVHS won six matches out of 15, with boys’ singles and mixed doubles raking in the most points, followed by girls’ singles and boys’ doubles. Despite the eventual loss, the Matadors fought ferociously, with many of the games ending in overtime with scores over 21 points.
Freshman and boys’ singles player Aiden Wong notes that although the overall team lost, his individual games were still strong. Wong adds that a lot of the team’s point losses were simple errors, which he attributes to a lack of commitment during training.
“I think the problem is consistency because I kept making unforced errors and easy mistakes when I obviously should have won the point, “ Wong said. “It’s all about training, and I should keep working on it.”
Both Wong and freshman and mixed doubles player Lucas Liu believe that they need to improve their defense. Liu feels that although they are strong players individually, their teamwork needs improvement. He adds that in the future, the overall synergy in doubles can be improved despite badminton being mostly an individual sport.
“Honestly, I think we have some pretty strong players on our team, but the overall organization’s a bit weird, and we need to really step up on organization, especially during practices,” Liu said. “But other than that, we have some very brilliant and bright players on our team, so we just need to unlock their potential.”
With the rest of the season ahead of them, Wong and Liu both feel optimistic about the future and how much they can improve. Liu believes that team morale goes a long way in sports and can significantly improve performance. He hopes that in the future, having a tight-knit community in badminton will not only strengthen team dynamics but also push each other to reach new heights.
“We need to cheer a lot more for each other,” Liu said. “I feel like sometimes people aren’t really in it. They just do their own games, and they leave and do other things. A little bit more cheering can make us so much more competitive, and it adds so much to a team sport.”
