Friday May 10 found the begininning of the CCCAA Badminton State Championship Tournament in Pasadena, CA at Pasadena City College. Grossmont College advanced four (4) to the state tournament, including two singles players and two doubles teams. Singles player Huyen Lam competed at the state tournament with high remarks.
Lam competed with DeAnza College's Cindy Ha in the first round of state match-ups. Lam came out victoriously against Ha, losing the first game 17-21, but winning the next two 21-10 and 21-11. She advanced to play Pasadena City's own, Sophia Nguyen.
Lam finished Nguyen fairly quickly, in just two games 21-12 and 21-9, into the quarterfinal round. Lam was to play Fresno City College's Uyen Napier next.
After losing the first game in the quarterfinal (21-23), Lam took the second game (21-14). The third game found FCC's Napier barely winning 25-23 to knock Lam out of the tournament.
Assistant coach Ayumi Hazel is extremely proud of Lam and expresses how "the students had a wonderful experience at state championships."
Also competing at the state championship was Lam's doubles partner Drew Mendoza. The two did not advance past their first match in doubles, similarly to Grossmont's additional state qualifiers Mickaela Carlin and Jazlynne Napoles.
Left to right: Mickaela Carlin, Drew Mendoza, Jazlynne Napoles, Huyen Lam, Paulette MacIntosh (Head Coach), Ayumi Hazel (Asst. Coach)