Complete ladder effort gives Fresno City College badminton state crown
Fresno City Collge dominated the bottom four singles contest, 8-0, as the Rams captured the 2019 CCCAA women's badminton state championship, 12-5, over host Pasadena City College Thursday, May 9th at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium.
Fresno finished the year with a perfect 9-0 record in a now tying PCC,2-2, in state titles since 2016. The Lancers (9-3) won the state titles in 2017 and 2018. Ironically, the Rams won for the second time on PCC's home floor as they did when they picked up their first-ever title in the sport in '16.
FCC head coach Panhia Vang has the distinction of directing a state champion team in her first year of coaching after she won as the Rams' top singles player in 2016.
"Its's an awesome feeling,"Vang said of winning as a head coach. "We worked hard and our whole team played well. Our No. 2 player Uyen Napier stepped up for us and got better during the second-halk of the season."
Napier recovered from a loss to PCC's No.1 Xiaoming Yao in the first round by first teaming with Rams' #1 player Soua Kong to win v. the Lancers No.2 doubles pair of Jessica Lee-Huyen Diep, 21-6, 21-19. In the third round singles, the 37 year-old Napier, from Vietnam, scored a win over PCC's #2 player Lee, 21-12, 21-19.
"Badminton is a sport where in a team setting everyone has to contribute,"Napier said. "We had a true team and some of the others we faced had some great No. 1 or No. 2 players but not a whole team. Playing for Coach Panhia was so helpful because she knew what to prepare for, and what it was like as a player playing at state only a few years ago. Her training from the start of the season was very strong and helped us improve."
The Fresno lower ladder players, #3 Nari Chang, #4 Stephanie Tran, #5 Dominique Yang and #6 Shakaila Eddings each swept two singles matches each while Yang-Eddings tallied a win in #3 doubles over PCC's Nicole Ching and Annjie Li, 21-8, 21-6.
Fresno City 12, Pasadena City 5
Singles, Round 1
#1 Soua Kong (Fresno) loses to #2 Jessica Lee (PCC), 21-18, 12-21, 21-13
#2 Uyen Napier (Fresno) loses to #1 Xiaoming Yao (PCC), 21-13, 21-11
#3 Nari Chang (Fresno) d. #4 Huyen Diep (PCC), 21-9, 21-3
#4 Stephanie Tran (Fresno) d. #3 Sophia Nguyen (PCC), 21-18, 21-16
#5 Dominique Yang (Fresno) d. #6 Emilee Kintanar (PCC), 21-4, 21-13
#6 Shakaila Eddings (Fresno) d. #5 Nicole Ching (PCC), 21-6, 21-10
Doubles, Round 2
#1 Kong-Napier (Fresno) d. #2 Lee-Diep (PCC), 21-6, 21-19
#2 Chang-Tran (Fresno) loses to Yao-Nguyen (PCC), 21-18, 21-12
#3 Yang-Eddings (Fresno) d. Ching-Annjie Li (PCC), 21-8, 21-6
Singles, Round 3
Kong loses to Yao, 21-16, 21-18
Napier d. Lee, 21-12, 21-19
Chang d. Nguyen, 21-19, 21-19
Tran d. Diep, 21-10, 21-9
Yang d. Ching, 21-8, 21-7
Eddings d. Kintanar, 21-10, 21-4
