A Holy Trinity Academy Knight was able to keep his focus on the birdie en route to helping his team finally advance to the provincial championship.
Holy Trinity Academy’s (HTA) Derek Nimmo and Liam McMaster downed Elijah Trost and Tanner Sautner from Canmore in two straight games in the Senior boys’ doubles final at the South Central Zone high school badminton championships at Edison School April 20.
For Nimmo, the newfound focus didn’t come from greater concentration, but from deciding to put on his glasses.
“I wear glasses for long distances and I didn’t wear them for badminton,” Nimmo said. “Mr. Hartman (coach Keith Hartman) told me to try them, and I saw the birdie a lot better and I wasn’t missing as much.” McMaster and Nimmo were able to beat the Canmore pair 21-13, 21-18 in the final. Canmore had knocked McMaster and Nimmo out of zones each of the past two years.
McMaster said it wasn’t just a pair of glasses that led to the victory.
“We were a lot better prepared,” McMaster said. “We really wanted it this year because this is our Grade 12 year.”
He said his confidence was boosted when they had a fairly easy time in winning their first game 21-13.
However, that was short-lived after they fell behind 9-1 in Game 2.
“We were telling each other to just calm down,” McMaster said.
They regained their composure bouncing back to win 21-18 and earn a berth in provincials.
It will be the team’s first trip to provincials which will be held May 6-7 in Strathmore. Only the winning team at zones in doubles goes on to provincials.
They feel they can win a provincial medal because the Canmore team won the bronze medal at provincials last season.
It was a good day for McMaster. Just hours after winning the doubles title with Nimmo, he won the Oiler Award for the Okotoks AA Midget Oilers at a ceremony later that evening.
Sisters
The Zanoni sisters from HTA will be able to ride together to the provincials in Strathmore.
Giovanna Zanoni won the Senior girls’ singles title by downing Edison School’s Jasmine Wiggins in the final at Edison School on April 20. Meanwhile, her younger sister, Justeena teamed up with Chad Loughery to win the Junior mixed doubles title at Foothills Composite High School.
Although Giovanna has taken a game from Wiggins in the past, her victory in the finals was the first time she has won a match from her friend.
“When I went into that final match, I knew I was going to go on to provincials,” she said. “I wanted to win gold, but if I lost it wouldn’t be too devastating.”
The top two singles in each category at zones advance to provincials.
Giovanna won a medal at provincials two years ago. However, she opted for doubles last season because she was recovering from a broken collarbone.
Her goal is to win a medal in this her final year of high school badminton.
Justeena Zanoni and Chad Loughery teamed up for the first time this year.
“He is very good from going side to side and I am good at the net,” Zanoni said. “We thought we would be a good combination.”
The Zanoni sisters’ common denominator in badminton is their father Gerry.
“He didn’t play a lot when he was growing up, but he played at university,” Justeena said. “When we were younger, he used to coach and we would hang out.”
Gerry was the former coach at HTA and W.R. Myers High School at Taber.
“He coached us both when I was in Grade 7 and Giovanna was in Grade 9 (at John Paul II Collegiate).”
