Hapnot Collegiate was well represented at last weekend’s Manitoba high school badminton provincials in Winnipeg.
Two players from Hapnot Collegiate - Gianna Watt and Teslynn Beauchamp - qualified for provincials by placing highly at the recent Zone 11 badminton tournament. Both teams from Hapnot won their zone banners - Watt won the zone senior varsity girls’ title, while Beauchamp finished second in her class.
In the senior draw, Watt was part of an eight-team pool against players from across southern Manitoba, going 4-3 through pool play, beating players from Boissevain, McCreary, Arborg and St. Lazare. That was enough to put Watt third in her pool and allow her to advance to the final round.
In the 16-player final round, Watt played an opening round game against Swan Valley Regional Secondary School, which did not go her way - the Swan Valley player won 21-7, 21-7, ending Watt’s hopes of another provincial banner. The player that beat her would later advance to the provincial final, finishing second.
The loss put Watt into the consolation bracket, where she would pick up a close win against Arborg 22-20, 17-21, 22-20, setting up a match with Altona’s W.C. Miller Aces. Watt would fall 21-11, 21-14 to the player that would later win the consolation round.
For Beauchamp, her run through the junior varsity girls’ bracket would end in pool play. Beauchamp went 3-4 through her pool, beating players from Balmoral Hall, Grandview and Maples, but dropping four matches en route to a fifth-place finish - just short of qualifying for the 16-player final bracket.
