It’s the first time an NT junior team has come away with
victory at the championships.
The team,
made up of James Delosa, Bernadete Aniceto, Elysia Viravong and Romy Puhalovich
from Darwin and Palmerston, defeated the Victoria Combo Roos in the Final
to win Gold in the Under 13 Australian Regional Teams Challenge (11 matches won
to 1 match lost).
NT Junior Coach Saidina Pawero said the kids were really determined to play their best as a team and lifted themselves to a whole new level for the occasion.
“They
believed they had the talent to take on the strong regional teams from the
more favoured states of Victoria and NSW,” Mr Pawero said.
In the
National Championships, Romy Puhalovich (Boys Singles Event) and Bernadete
Aniceto (Girls Singles Event) finished in the top eight after making the
quarter finals.
Romy was
defeated by Marcus Kong of Victoria 31-18. Bernadete lost to the No. 1
seed and eventual winner Victoria He of NSW, 30-15.
In another
display of NT junior talent, Romy Puhalovich (NT) and Pascal Souksavat (ACT)
paired-up in the Boys Doubles Event and finished equal third.
They lost
in the semi-finals to the No.1 seeding pair and eventual winners Ross Audley
and Ryan Venpin from Victoria.
It was the
first time a NT junior has made the semi-final of a national championships.
“We’re all
so very proud of all of our kids’ efforts,” Mr Saidina Pawero said. “To have
coaches from other states notice the talent we have in the NT is
fantastic. With James, Bernadete and Elysia still able to play Under 13s
next year, it’s exciting to see how they will use this experience as a stepping
stone for next year’s tournament. The future looks really bright for badminton
in the NT!”
“As an
organization, we’ve worked very hard to build and develop our junior players.
Sports House has been critical for us, as it provides the dedicated playing
venue that we’ve needed so that our kids train regularly and uninterrupted,” NT
Badminton Association President Rodney Pearce said.
NT
Badminton is still in negotiation with the Northern Territory Government to
identify a suitable replacement venue for when its current tenancy at Sports
House expires on 31 March 2014.
For
more information visit www.saveoursport.org.au
or follow NT
Badminton on: www.facebook.com/SaveOurSportNT
and twitter.com/SaveOurSportNT
