At the Glenbrook South Sectional, May 8, the Oak Park and River Forest High School badminton team qualified both of its doubles entries for the IHSA state finals. The Huskies finished third in the team standings with eight points.
“It’s pretty nice,” said OPRF coach Paul Wright. “It’s great we got both entries downstate.”
Seniors Alice Cadwell and Anika Gupta finished second. Following a first-round bye, they defeated a team from Payton Prep 21-10, 21-10 in the quarterfinals, then knocked off a team from Glenbrook South 21-13, 24-22 in the semifinals. In the title match, Cadwell and Gupta were defeated by Glenbrook South’s Deana Chin and Rayya Patel 15-21, 13-21.
“[Cadwell and Gupta] played hard and fast,” Wright said. “They walked into a Glenbrook South team (in the final) that you could tell played together for a long time.”
OPRF’s other doubles entry, juniors Stella Ludwig and Olive Tepher, also qualified. But they had to navigate a tougher road to do so. Ludwig and Tepher won its first-round match over Mather (21-9, 21-16), but lost in the quarterfinals to Maine West (19-21, 18-21), which meant they’d have to win three matches in the consolation bracket in order to get to the third-place match and secure their spot in the state finals.
That’s exactly what Ludwig and Tepher did, defeating teams from Whitney Young (21-17, 21-15), Lake Forest (21-18, 21-18), and Maine West (21-11, 21-14), in that order. In the third-place match, the duo lost to Grace Carlson and Jasmine Mehta of Glenbrook South 15-21, 5-21. However, Ludwig and Tepher advance to state by being among the top four sectional placers.
“[Ludwig and Tepher] came up with a game plan and executed it really well [in the rematch with Maine West],” Wright said. “They were super-ecstatic as juniors to get downstate; they’re great high school friends, not just badminton players.”
Seniors Ada Klein and Wes Wong competed in singles for OPRF at the sectional. Following a bye, Klein defeated Michelle Yee of Whitney Young 21-6, 21-9. But she lost in the quarterfinals to top-seeded Kate Haravon of Glenbrook South, 18-21, 9-21, and then fell to Ana Paunilian of Maine West in a consolation match, 14-21, 8-21.
“Ada had a phenomenal first game against [Haravon],” Wright said. “It was great to see her compete.”
Wong lost her first-round match to Isabella Adams of Lake Forest 10-21, 8-21, then lost 16-21, 17-21 in the first consolation round to Payton Prep’s Inika Bansal.
“Wes battled all day and did the best she could,” Wright said.
Wright says OPRF’s goal for the state finals is to be playing on Saturday. He feels Cadwell and Gupta have a chance to do so, depending on the draw.
“Hopefully, Anika and Alice will have a bit of an easier path,” Wright said. “They’ll probably play a three seed instead of a two. It all depends on how the rankings come out. Our goal is always to get to Saturday; it’s a much different tournament with a lot less kids and it’s more focused. Getting there is a great step for our program.”
The IHSA state finals take place May 16-17 at DeKalb High School.
