Varsity Blues badminton players Fiona McKee, Bethany So and Andrew Wilkinson competed at the annual Yonex Toronto Open this past weekend (Jan. 6-8) at Humber College.

The Toronto Open is one of the national circuit events that lead to the Canadian national championships each year and is the most competitive and prestigious competition within Ontario.

Representing Toronto Granite, McKee and partner Helen Nichol were unseeded heading into the women’s doubles competition. The duo defied the odds, defeating the No. 2 and 3 seads to reach the final match.  Despite their best efforts, McKee and Nichol fell to No. 1 seeds Roxanne Fraser and Florence Lavoie of Quebec, 21-19, 15-21, 10-21.

McKee also competed in the mixed doubles event with her brother, Tommy.  Again unseeded entering their first match, the McKees fought their way to the semifinals, eventually falling to No. 1 seeds Philippe Charron and Lavoie of Quebec, 19-21, 16-21.

Bethany So, representing Lee’s Badminton Club, found her top results in women’s singles and mixed doubles action. As the No. 5 seed, So advanced to the semifinals with three straight wins in singles play before falling to Nonnadda Silimai 21-12, 19-21, 18-21 in a tightly contested match.  She went onto defeat Rachel Honderwich 21-14, 21-15 to claim the bronze medal.

So also competed alongside Andrew Lau and reached the semifinals in mixed doubles. The duo defeated fellow Varsity Blues Andrew Wilkinson and his partner Jody Chan in the quarter-finals but met their demise in No. 2 seeds Allan Sutejda and lelyana Chandra, losing 7-21, 14-21.

Wilkinson went onto earn the bronze medal in men’s doubles action, going 4-1 with partner Andrew Lau.  The pair followed a 3-0 performance with a really strong match in the semifinals against Ruben Khosaldali and Charles Pyne, losing in three close games 18-21, 21-16, 14-21. 

Full Results

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