TORONTO - The top badminton players and coach in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) were honoured Saturday morning as part of the 2014 OCAA Badminton Championships being hosted by Humber College.

Ryan Chow (Mississauga) of Humber College is the OCAA men's badminton player of the year. He was perfect at OCAA regionals, going 8-0 in men's singles. Chow has medaled in every OCAA sanctioned tournament he has participated in this season, and has moved seamlessly into the realm of men's singles after winning a gold medal in OCAA mixed doubles in 2013. Chow is an OCAA all-star, a Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) all-Canadian, and a nominee for the national men's player of the year.

For the fourth consecutive year, Tracy Wong (Richmond Hill) of Humber is the OCAA women's badminton player of the year. The three-time OCAA champion and reigning CCAA national champion in women's doubles went undefeated at OCAA regionals with a 6-0 record in mixed doubles. In four seasons, Wong has never lost at an OCAA sanctioned event. She was named the OCAA women's athlete of the year in 2013. Wong is an OCAA all-star, a CCAA all-Canadian, and a nominee for the national women's player of the year, an award she received last year.

Benno Kurvits of Redeemer University College is the OCAA coach of the year. Kurvits saw four of his student-athletes advance to provincials, as Redeemer finished second in the men's team standings, and third among women's teams. Owen Kurvitz (Hamilton) was runner-up in men's singles, as was the duo of Robyn Bennett (Burlington) and Dan Vanden Boogaard (St. Catharines) in mixed doubles. Julie Koopmans (Chatham) placed third in women's singles to also earn a provincials invite. Kurvits is a nominee for CCAA coach of the year.

Individuals who finished in first place at regionals are named OCAA all-stars. Along with Chow and Wong, they include Hans Agnihotri (Lively) and Tyler Cameron (Sturgeon Falls) of Cambrian College; Yan Zhou (China) of Centennial College; Yujia Chen (China) and Yunji Kim (Korea) of George Brown College; Trevor Neville (Barrie), Maggie Tremblay (Rossport) and Ethan Zhao (China) of Georgian College; Cindy Fu (Toronto), Andrew Lau (Markham), Ra Seang (Toronto) and Ian Tang (Toronto) of Humber; and Victoria Hall (Brantford) and Kimloung Lim (Cambodia) of Mohawk College.

Team winners at OCAA regionals were also honoured. Georgian and Centennial were men’s and women’s team champions, respectively, from East regionals. Humber swept both team titles at West regionals.

2013-14 OCAA BADMINTON MAJOR AWARDS

OCAA East Region Men's Team Champions
Georgian

OCAA East Region Women's Team Champions
Centennial

OCAA West Region Men's Team Champions
Humber

OCAA West Region Women's Team Champions
Humber

OCAA Men's Player of the Year
Ryan Chow, Humber

OCAA Women's Player of the Year
Tracy Wong, Humber

CCAA All-Canadians
Ryan Chow, Humber
Tracy Wong, Humber

OCAA Coach of the Year
Benno Kurvits, Redeemer

OCAA All-Stars
Hans Agnihotri, Cambrian
Tyler Cameron, Cambrian
Yujia Chen, George Brown
Ryan Chow, Humber
Cindy Fu, Humber
Victoria Hall, Mohawk
Yunji Kim, George Brown
Andrew Lau, Humber
Kimloung Lim, Mohawk
Trevor Neville, Georgian
Ra Seang, Humber
Ian Tang, Humber
Maggie Tremblay, Georgian
Tracy Wong, Humber
Ethan Zhao, Georgian
Yan Zhou, Centennial

- OCAA -

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E-mail: bell-webster@ocaa.com