Ss Badminton players seek past success Young Falcons badminton team strives to maintain Falcons’ history of victory, says player Hugh Leung By JUDY CHERN to restore the glory of its former years while recognizing the chal- lenges that come with training a young team. The team placed third in the second tournament in Nanaimo Nov. 3 and 4, with strong performances from the men’s singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles players. Securing third for doubles were Hugh Leung and Shurman Chan, who have also been consistent in their wins. “The new players are young, they don’t know that in the past, people would make lineups to match us,” said Leung. “They have to realize the school they are playing for is a championship team.” “The challenge is to train the first years and get the girls to be more competitive,” said head coach Mare Petreman. Leung agreed, saying that the team relies on steady wins from MARC PETREMAN the men’s and Head coach of m Mixed doubles’ side. “We have two months to boost up the girls... our suc- cess really depends on them,” added Leung. Jason Sun and Matt Downton clinched first place in the A and B pools, respectively, for singles. Down- ton participated in the world junior championships last week and is one of the core players this season. In mixed doubles, Andrew Li and Ju- lia Chiang were first in the A pool, while Downton and Ashley Jang came in second for the B pool, helping the Falcons to their third-place finish. Petreman praised Jang for being smart on court despite recent knee sur- gery. Jang lost a close game in the last tournament in Kamloops while “basi- cally playing on one leg,” said assistant coach Bonnie Cheng. This year’s team is a mix of high per- formance and recreational players. Leung returns to Langara this year after receiving his degree from SFU. He hopes the team achieves the status they held in years past with players such as Olympic-hopeful Adrian Liu. T: Falcons badminton team hopes ra lt i i ai a, x a my _ i | _ KATJA DE BOCK photos The season home openers were held at Langara for both men’s and women’s teams on Friday, Nov. 2, against Douglas College. Guard Brody Greig (No. 6) moves to block a Douglas player; guard Hailey Hebron (No. 4) and forward Charlotte Lau (No. 11) wait for a rebound. Basketball teams start strong Falcons victorious over Douglas College for the season home openers By KATJA DE BOCK he packed gymnasium went wild when both men’s and women’s Falcons basketball teams won this season’s home opening games against Douglas College. There was barely any standing room available to watch the game. Dara Rykiss, who worked the door, could hardly keep up with the demand for fan towels, pins and 50-50 tickets. “T love coming to watch [my friends] ... they excel at what they do,” said hu- man kinetics student Rykiss. A Falcons soccer team member, Rykiss is disappointed that her season is already over when the basketball season is just beginning. The women won 60-45 against the Douglas Royals. Forward Charlotte Lau was recover- ing from a leg injury and still scored 23 points during the game. “Tt was nice to have a good play,” she said, cooling down after the game. “We had a specific game plan and we stuck to it... the defence was stellar,” said women’s head coach Mike Evans. But he added more work needs to be done. “We could be better at rebounding and we need to improve everything,” said Evans. The women’s team captain Jade Ari- gnon found the Falcons’ victory bitter- sweet, because she had to sit on the bench due to a broken finger. Fourth-year player Arignon is fondly nicknamed The Mayor by her team- mates for balancing basketball prac- tice, studying business management and being one of the co-founders of the Langara volunteer program VOLT. The men’s team, who excelled pre- season, won 93-61 against the Royals. Jordan Mottl, men’s assistant coach, was excited to finally see the season start after two months of practice. Mott] said although many of the players were excellent, the start of the game was sloppy and the team should improve by next weekend. “A nice start to the year,” said men’s head coach Paul Eberhardt. Guard Brody Greig, who twisted his ankle halfway through the game, also agreed the defence could be improved. Among the cheering fans was histo- ry student and former basketball play- er Jordan Pendlebury, who had painted his chest in Langara orange. Pendlebury drummed tirelessly on an empty protein-powder box from his roommate, player Daniel Hobden. The next games will be held on Nov. 9 and 10 at Langara College, against Camosun College and Vancouver Is- land University, respectively. GAMES Basketball WOMEN / MEN November 9 vs. Camosun Col- lege 6 p.m. / 8 p.m. At Langara WOMEN / MEN November 10 vs. Vancouver Island University 1p.m. /3 p.m. At Langara WOMEN / MEN November 16 vs. Kwantlen Poly- technic University 6 p.m. / 8 p.m. Away RICHARD HODGES photo Bill Flynn (left) and John Hutinchsun sweep hard. Brooms & Beers meets Saturdays at Marpole Curling Club. Locals rock the house with hops Marpole Curling Club hosts Brooms & Beers league Saturday mornings, open to public By RICHARD HODGES Marpole Curling Club, early week- end mornings provide a rare chance to get their rocks off. Deb Pound heads the Brooms & Beers mixed league and calls the sport the best deal in town. “Tt’s $215 for the entire year and you get a couple of hours every Saturday for a few months,” Pound said. “That’s less than $10 a game.” The group plays every Saturday morning at 9 a.m at the Marpole Curl- ing Club (8730 Heather Street). Rhodora Mancera got hooked on curling during the 2010 Olympics and eventually found herself attending F: the dedicated members of the drop-in games three to four times ev- ery week. “T just showed up as a spare and loved it,” Mancera said. “Eventually this one lady noticed me... she said to show up at the same time next week and she’d show me a few things be- cause I looked like a natural.” Mancera now curls regularly with her boyfriend and has introduced a few other friends to the sport. She hopes to compete in her first competitive tournament, known as a bonspiel, before the end of the year. While Mancera is a newcomer, oth- ers have been curling for as long as they can remember. Roseanne McIndoe has been curling recreationally and in bonspiels since she was 14-years-old. Bill Flynn and his wife have been playing the sport for a decade and a half. “We picked if up when we moved from Alberta when we were in our 40s,” Flynn said. “Tt’s something to do on a Saturday morning.” The league also includes mentally- handicapped players, some of whom compete in the Special Olympics. For some of those players, such as Nico Jan-Groenevelt, it’s a chance to spend a couple hours putting their life on ice. “T love Saturdays,” said Jan- Groenevelt. “I curl with these guys and after I play with other people like me.”