AURORA, Ont. - The top badminton players and coaches in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) were honoured Thursday evening as part of the 2023 OCAA Badminton Championships hosted by Seneca College.
Colin Zhou (China) of Centennial was named the OCAA Men's Badminton Player of the Year. The first-year student athlete dominated the men's singles competition at the recent east regionals with a 5-0 record, helping lead Centennial to an east region men's team title. Zhou was also named the East Region Player of the Year and an East Region All-Star and is a nominee for national player of the year.
Seneca's Motahareh Shams (Richmond Hill) was named the OCAA Women's Badminton Player of the Year. Shams had a record of 2-0 in women's singles competition at the recent east regionals, helping lead Seneca to an east region women's team title. The first-year student athlete was also named the East Region Player of the Year and an East Region All-Star and is a nominee for national player of the year.
Steve Ruddach of Fanshawe was named the OCAA Badminton Coach of the Year. Ruddach helped guide a total of seven student-athletes past the west regionals and into provincials, as Fanshawe won the west region men's team title. Ruddach was also named West Region Coach of the Year and is a nominee for national coach of the year.
Fanshawe's Arpitraj Sinha (Markham) is the OCAA Men's Badminton West Region Player of the Year. Sinha went undefeated at the west regionals with a record of 6-0 in men's singles play. Sinha is also an East Region All-Star.
Devika Kumar (India) of Conestoga is the West Region Player of the Year. Kumar was undefeated in women's singles play at west regionals with a 6-0 record. Kumar is also a West Region All-Star.
Eric Pattison of St. Lawrence is the East Region Coach of the Year. Pattison brought three student-athletes to east regionals, with all three qualifying for provincials.
Student-athletes who finished in first place at their respective regionals in their respective disciplines are named OCAA All-Stars. Joining the aforementioned Zhou, Shams, Sinha and Kumar are Sarthak Arora (India) and Monique Lee (India) of George Brown; Nishant Batra (India), Victoria Duong (Kitchener), Sirapob Kongubon (Thailand), Thanh Lam (Toronto), Airi Moromisato (Peru) and Glorinelle Questin (Brampton) of Humber; and Kevin Himanshu Shah (India), Danessa Griffith (Toronto), Anthony Tso (Markham) and Danielle Yanes (Toronto) of Seneca.
2023 OCAA BADMINTON AWARDS
OCAA Men's Badminton Player of the Year
Colin Zhou, Centennial
OCAA Women's Badminton Player of the Year
Motahareh Shams, Seneca
OCAA Badminton Coach of the Year
Steve Ruddach, Fanshawe
OCAA Men's Badminton East Region Player of the Year
Colin Zhou, Centennial
OCAA Men's Badminton West Region Player of the Year
Arpitraj Sinha, Fanshawe
OCAA Women's Badminton East Region Player of the Year
Motahareh Shams, Seneca
OCAA Women's Badminton West Region Player of the Year
Devika Kumar, Conestoga
OCAA Badminton East Region Coach of the Year
Eric Pattison, St. Lawrence
OCAA Badminton West Region Coach of the Year
Steve Ruddach, Fanshawe
OCAA Badminton Men's East Region All-Stars
Sarthak Arora, George Brown
Kevin Himanshu Shah, Seneca
Anthony Tso, Seneca
Colin Zhou, Centennial
OCAA Badminton Men's West Region All-Stars
Nishant Batra, Humber
Sirapob Kongubon, Humber
Thanh Lam, Humber
Arpitraj Sinha, Fanshawe
OCAA Badminton Women's East Region All-Stars
Danessa Griffith, Seneca
Monique Lee, George Brown
Motahareh Shams, Seneca
Danielle Yanes, Seneca
OCAA Badminton Women's West Region All-Stars
Victoria Duong, Humber
Devika Kumar, Conestoga
Airi Moromisato, Humber
Glorinelle Questin, Humber
- OCAA -
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