St. Charles North badminton gets best of 'friendly rivalry'

ST. CHARLES – The St. Charles North badminton team’s near sweep of doubles competition boosted the North Stars to a 10-5 victory over crosstown rival St. Charles East on Tuesday.

Winning four of five doubles matches over the host Saints to start the meet gave the North Stars a comfortable lead as they also won six of the 10 singles contests in the Upstate Eight Conference clash.

It also marked the first time in at least five years that North topped East in the badminton.

“It’s your typical crosstown rivalry, but the East coach and I get along really well, so it’s a very friendly rivalry,” North coach Michael Smith said. “We were … just talking earlier. I think it has been five years since North has beaten East, so it feels pretty good to be on the right side of the score.”

“Yes, it has been like five years,” East coach Tricia DeNorio said in agreement.

DeNorio attributed the North Stars’ victory to their senior-laden roster.

“They are more experienced than my girls,” DeNorio said. “We are holding sophomores and juniors on varsity.”

“Definitely a really good feeling,” North’s Kajal Thakkar about the win. “They put up a great fight and made us work a lot.”

North (3-1, 3-0 UEC) also is off to one of its best conference starts in a long time.

“All the senior leadership and experience is paying off,” Smith said.

East (2-2, 2-1) won in No. 1 doubles as Hiral Patel and Vaidehi Panchal beat Jessica Foor and Kaitlin Hartig in two sets, 21-17, 21-14.

But it was all North in the remaining doubles matches.

Thakkar and Sklyar Igelski downed East’s Emma Hardy and Jiya Patel in two sets, 21-18, 21-14, at No. 2 doubles.

“My partner Skylar and I are really good at talking to each other,” Thakkar said. “I know exactly where she’s going to put the birdie, and she knows exactly where I want to put it.”

Hardy came back to win in No. 2 singles in three sets over Igleski.

The sophomore dropped the first set, 17-21, won the second, 21-19, and needed four extra points to take the third, 25-21.
"I think it was all just mental," Hardy said. "I was using a lot of strategy."

“She did a nice job of moving around on the court and she was able to execute her shots,” DeNorio said.

ST. CHARLES – The St. Charles North badminton team’s near sweep of doubles competition boosted the North Stars to a 10-5 victory over crosstown rival St. Charles East on Tuesday.

Winning four of five doubles matches over the host Saints to start the meet gave the North Stars a comfortable lead as they also won six of the 10 singles contests in the Upstate Eight Conference clash.

It also marked the first time in at least five years that North topped East in the badminton.

“It’s your typical crosstown rivalry, but the East coach and I get along really well, so it’s a very friendly rivalry,” North coach Michael Smith said. “We were … just talking earlier. I think it has been five years since North has beaten East, so it feels pretty good to be on the right side of the score.”

“Yes, it has been like five years,” East coach Tricia DeNorio said in agreement.

DeNorio attributed the North Stars’ victory to their senior-laden roster.

“They are more experienced than my girls,” DeNorio said. “We are holding sophomores and juniors on varsity.”

“Definitely a really good feeling,” North’s Kajal Thakkar about the win. “They put up a great fight and made us work a lot.”

North (3-1, 3-0 UEC) also is off to one of its best conference starts in a long time.

“All the senior leadership and experience is paying off,” Smith said.

East (2-2, 2-1) won in No. 1 doubles as Hiral Patel and Vaidehi Panchal beat Jessica Foor and Kaitlin Hartig in two sets, 21-17, 21-14.

But it was all North in the remaining doubles matches.

Thakkar and Sklyar Igelski downed East’s Emma Hardy and Jiya Patel in two sets, 21-18, 21-14, at No. 2 doubles.

“My partner Skylar and I are really good at talking to each other,” Thakkar said. “I know exactly where she’s going to put the birdie, and she knows exactly where I want to put it.”

Hardy came back to win in No. 2 singles in three sets over Igleski.

The sophomore dropped the first set, 17-21, won the second, 21-19, and needed four extra points to take the third, 25-21.
"I think it was all just mental," Hardy said. "I was using a lot of strategy."

“She did a nice job of moving around on the court and she was able to execute her shots,” DeNorio said.