BY KEVIN FRIEDENBERG

In print | Published March 1, 2007

Last weekend, the Swarthmore badminton team hosted the annual Northeast Collegiate regional tournament. However, they didn’t come just to compete; they came to win. Out of a field of nine teams, including some heavy-hitting Division I schools (Cornell, University of Maryland, George Washington, Drexel, University of Pennsylvania and Towson), Swarthmore was able to place third with a score of 34.5 points, behind only Maryland and Cornell. This is an incredibly impressive feat for a team that lost a lot of senior leadership after last season.

Kim Kramer ‘10 lit up the competition to show that the badminton team has a bright future ahead. Kramer won the women’s singles in three sets over a competitor from Towson, while also making it to the finals for women’s doubles with Candice Cherk ’07 in a match that literally came down to the wire, with scores of 21-19, 19-21, 21-11. Not finished there, Kramer was also part of a semifinalist combo in the mixed doubles event with a partner from Cornell.

“I think we did really well as a team,” Alice Xiang ’10 said. “A lot of people who were beginners at the beginning of the season have really gained experience.”

Head coach Bhavin Parikh echoed these sentiments. “The team looks a lot stronger than past years’ teams,” he said. “It’s more balanced now in terms of doubles and mixed doubles. A lot of the team are [first-years] or beginners who have shown huge potential for the next season.”

Against Albright College on Feb. 20, Kramer, Cherk and Patricia Kelly ’08 romped the competition in singles, as the Garnet won 3-2, before falling to Bryn Mawr later that night by the same result. “Our coach has been especially tough on the team this year, but there has been dramatic improvement. In past years, we had a shortage of players, but this year we have a huge team and they have a lot of potential,” Cherk said in an e-mail.

Two days ago, Swarthmore fell to Bryn Mawr in another close 3-2 loss. Kramer and Cherk were victorious in their singles matches for the Tide.

The team is now gearing up for the final tournament of the season, the Pennsylvania State Open, which the Garnet won last year. “We won the PA State Open last time so I hope we take home the title again,” Parikh said.

This year’s team, which earlier in the year was simply trying to rebuild and overcome the loss of its senior players, has turned into a serious competitor and a force to be reckoned with on the collegiate badminton scene. Almost all of the players on the roster this year have shown tremendous improvement over the year. “The Swarthmore badminton team will definitely have a chance to stay at the top of the conference in the next few years,” Cherk said.

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