Right before the Songkran holiday, our Badminton teams left for Manila to participate in 2017 IASAS Badminton which kicked off on the 6th of April. While some students left early for their week long holiday, some remained in front of their computers with high hopes cheering for the boys and girls Badminton team. Even though, neither of our Badminton teams was able to bring back the championship trophy, both the boys and a girls team had an unforgettable tournament.

Finishing last season with a bronze medal, the girls aimed to maintain their high level of Badminton starting from day one of the season. In preparation for IASAS, Jan Sirimongkolkasem (12), captain of the girls team, said the team placed a large emphasis on trying not to pressure themselves going into the tournament, as they figured out that they play a lot better when they are more relaxed.

Although, the team finished in fourth place, every player in the team was satisfied with each other’s performances along with the chemistry and team spirit that shined throughout the tournament. Jan commented, “as the only senior, I could not have asked for a better group of girls to end my last IASAS with.”

Even though Badminton is widely recognized as an individual sport, the common feedback from both the boys and girls team was that they supported each other at games. Multiple times throughout the tournament, the ISB Panthers were able to quiet the home crowd with their loud voices filled with Panthers spirit. While Jan is departing next year for college, she thinks that considering that they were the youngest team at IASAS but still placed fourth, it is interesting to what the girls will be able to achieve in next year’s Badminton season.

While on the boys side, the team was completely locked in heading into the tournament. Shafim Alam (12), three year veteran of the team, said, “as retrospective to our Pre-IASAS Exchange; our doubles players were able to excel alongside our singles players.” Even though, the team realized it was not going to be an easy journey, the team aimed for the championship and they were ready to take it game by game.

Badminton being only one of the two IASAS sports with a playoff system after the completion of round robin, the odds could play on either team competing in the playoffs. The boys finished the round-robin undefeated and everything pointed towards the gold medal. However, the odds played against ISB in the semi-finals. With one first doubles player sitting out from a virus and badminton racquet strings being broken during warm-ups, the boys lost to ISM, who later marched on to the finals and won the championship.

Chan Tae Park (12), second singles player, said, “every aspect that could have gone wrong went wrong.” Despite the heartbreaking loss against ISM, the boys were looking to reunite and make the best out of this agonizing situation against their historic rivals, Taipei American School, for the bronze medal. The boys had a close but confident win to bounce back from their disappointing loss and finish the tournament in third place.

At the end of the tournament, many spectators and players from other schools approached the boys team and praised them as the best team to not win gold. Despite having a disappointing tournament, Shafim still feels proud of their accomplishment as “individual performances in the Singles 3, Alternate and Doubles 2 positions were recognized for their excellence with All-Tournament placements.”

The boys team was undeniably strong, perhaps the strongest team to never win gold. However, in sports, learning from the mistakes is as important as winning. The departing seniors strongly believe that the returning players got an important lesson out of this IASAS tournament and strongly believe they will only return stronger next year.

Alex C