It was a long afternoon for the Piedmont High School badminton team on April 2 against Alameda in Binks Gymnasium. The Hornets won, 14-1 but that one for the Highlanders was pretty sweet.
Johnny Phmah and Chase Hench had never played a boys doubles match together. But with several players out, coach Fiona Li decided to send them out against Alameda’s top team of Samuel and Madden Le. Phmah and Hench responded with a dramatic 24-26, 21-13, 21-18 victory.
“Third set, I think we thought about how they had been playing,” Phmah said. “We saw their front foot wasn’t as good.”
Said Hench, “It was just the mentality after every missed point, just move on. Think about the next point and just don’t get too down on the points you missed.”
Hench noted the first set went to deuce before the Les pulled it out.
“We knew we had a chance,” he said. “We’re there. We just have to think about the little stuff and improve on that.”
Coach Li said, “I just told them to slow down more because the other team likes to play fast. If we played a slower pace it would change up the speed of the team.
The rest of the day was all Alameda. Aryan Dayaram beat Duncan Eng at boys No. 1 singles, 21-6, 21-7. Chang Li beat Shou Presley at No. 2, 20-22, 21-10, 21-13. Bao Lan defeated Bryan Heafey at No. 3, 21-8, 21-14.
In girls singles, Isabella Lan downed Athena Li at No. 1, 21-9, 21-8. Ada Hu beat Sasha Liu at No. 2, 21-10, 21-18. Cyan Morales handled Francesca Clark at No. 3, 21-13, 21-11.
In boys doubles, Clark Guo and Bouyuan Pang beat Donovan Sar-Garza and Emilio Hollingsworth at No. 2, 21-9, 21-6. Joshua Lam and Kobe Wong defeated Alex Chan and Bryan Prado at No. 3, 21-11, 21-7.
In girls doubles, Yuetong Chen and Natalie Lu downed Ava Saephan and Sophia Li at No. 1, 21-8, 21-15. Coei Ma and Tina Li beat Maddie Tran and Chloe Hong at No. 2, 21-6, 21-8. Levianna Huang and Ivana Lee swept Penelope Welch and Maddie Lee, 21-17, 21-13.
In mixed doubles, Joey Lau and Yennhi Tat outlasted Edison Zhu and Sophia Clark at No. 1, 21-6, 14-21, 21-13. Curtis Wu and Mikayla Li beat Nathan Tuan and Naomi Treichler at No. 2, 21-8, 21-11. Suyue Li and Kaelee Lau defeated Tyler Shaw and Katie Tran, 21-14, 21-7.
On March 31, Piedmont lost at Arroyo, 8-7. Mandy Tang and Athena Li won girls singles matches. Sephan and Sophia Li took the No. 1 girls doubles while Hong and Nicole Li won the No. 2 match. Zhu and Clark claimed the No. 2 mixed doubles with Tuan and Tran winning at No. 3. Presley also won the No. 3 boys singles.
On March 26, the Highlanders were swept at home by Castro Valley, 15-0. On March 24, San Leandro defeated Piedmont at Binks, 12-3. Walden Pan won the No. 1 boys singles match for the Highlanders. Phmah and Treichler took the No. 1 mixed doubles match. Liu won at No. 3 girls singles.
On March 19, the Highlanders won at San Lorenzo, 10-5. They swept the boys singles, girls doubles and mixed doubles.
On March 17, Piedmont beat host Hayward 13-2.
The Highlanders are 4-5 on the year.