ETOBICOKE, Ont. - It was a day to remember at the 2013-14 OCAA Badminton Championships hosted by Humber College. Redeemer University College had a historic day capturing its first OCAA provincial gold medal in varsity badminton.

Men's singles player Owen Kurvits (Hamilton, Ont.) defeated Humber's Ryan Chow 2-1 in the final to secure Redeemer's fourth gold medal in school history.

Kurvits cruised through the round robin with a 5-0 record, finishing in first place in his pool. After defeating Calvin Yu (Centennial) 2-0 in the semi-finals, Kurvits matched up against the OCAA player of the year, Chow.

Kurvits had defeated Chow once earlier in the season at the Fanshawe Invitational but Chow came out on top at the recent OCAA regional championship.

It was Redeemer's time to shine however as Kurvits played with control the entire match, defeating Chow 2-1 (15-21, 21-15, 21-12).

With the trip to the gold medal match, Kurvits now has the opportunity to represent Redeemer at the CCAA National Badminton Championships taking place in two weeks in Alberta. This is the first time that Redeemer has qualified for the national championship in Badminton.

The Royals added to their medal total with a bronze in mixed doubles as well. The pairing of Robyn Bennett and Dan Vanden Boogaard defeated Centennial in the bronze medal match to claim Redeemer first-ever mixed doubles medal.

Bennett and Vanden Boogaard finished the round robin with a 3-2 record and in third place. They faced off against Georgian College in the semi-finals but failed to advance to the finals.

In the bronze medal match, Redeemer defeated Centennial 21-18 and 21-19.

Earlier in the day, Redeemer's head coach Benno Kurvits was named the OCAA coach of the year, another first for Redeemer in badminton. Coach Kurvits will also be nominated for the CCAA national coach of the year award as well.

Kurvits led Redeemer to its best season ever in varsity badminton, qualifying four individuals for the provincial championship and grabbing a No. 7 national ranking. With two OCAA provincial medals and a national championship qualification, Kurvits has proven his team can compete with the best in Canada.

Source: Redeemer University College