12 Blueprint
SPORTS
March 11, 2016
Justin Yang is among nation’s top badminton players By Joe Stellato, Editor-in-Chief Print One of the highest ranked badminton players in the country takes the floor awaiting the serve. The birdie soars above the net, gliding through the air. The player swings his racket back as he stretches the legs and arms of his 5’3” frame to intercept the birdie’s path. His racket quickly retracts to strike the birdie upward and over the net only for it to meet the court floor on the opposite side. The courts of the Midwest Badminton Club have been a natural habitat for freshman Justin Yang since 6th grade. Now, at the age of 15, Yang is ranked 30th in the nation among those in the U17 Singles U.S. Junior Badminton league this season. Achieving this has been an accomplishment for Yang, but he chooses not to pay much attention to his position in the rankings and focuses more on what’s important to him. “I always try not to think about my rank because I told myself that rankings don’t really matter. It only matters how well I perform at tournaments. Being top 10 would be great, but it would also be a big challenge too… I have to play a lot of tournaments and school is my first priority. If I skip a bunch of school, I don’t how I would make [up for my absences],” Yang said. Yang recently played in the 2016 Winter Egret Junior Open, a local tournament in Schaumburg, where he placed first in singles for U17 and third for U19. The week prior, he played at the SoCal Super Regional tournament where he had the opportunity to face off against the number one ranked player in the country. Midwest Badminton Club coach Ilian Perez is a former Cuban National Champion and 2011 US National Champion for badminton who has been working with Yang for the past four years. He explained how it felt to see him perform like he did in California and expects him to be even better as the year progresses. “It is a really good feeling… We just came back from LA where he
faced the best of the best in the USA. He lost in the third round against the champion, but it was a good fight,” Perez said. “The game was so close. I was impressed [by] how he was playing that game against someone who I know is really good, but he came short… [In the] second game, he was leading 18-14, but I think he ran out of gas. I expect [him to] reach the top 10 before the year ends.” His performance in California didn’t go unnoticed and as a result increased his ranking by 16 spots to his current ranking. Each player in USAB is scored with points and the more points a player has, the higher their ranking. The 7,876 points he has notched this year alone for singles competition earned him his current ranking among the top 30 players in the country. Yang normally competes in the U17 league, but has recently been playing with older players in the U19 events hoping to improve his abilities. “[Playing in U19] gives you more points. Each level is harder, so if I play up, I play people who are older than me… I play up because I want to face the hardest opponent,” Yang said. Along with California, Yang has traveled to various states for competitive badminton tournaments including New Jersey, Florida and Illinois. After experiencing his first loss in one of his out-of-state tournaments, he felt more driven to improve. “In New Jersey, I actually lost my first game. I watched other players that were better than me by a ton. So, I told myself after the tournament that I would go back, train harder and to hopefully do better next time.” Initially, playing badminton was not entirely Yang’s decision or desire. His mother wanted him to play to help him become more conditioned with his asthma. Yang described how he became dedicated to a sport he once was ashamed of and how it soon became his passion.
“I really didn’t want to play, but I had asthma, so my mom forced me into the sport because she thought it would help. In the beginning in my 6th grade year, right before the class I would always cry because I always thought it was a girls sport. No guys played it,” Yang said. “It really surprised as I was training, I kept improving, and it kept me motivated to keep playing.” With all of his practice, he reaped the benefits of becoming a better badminton player while improving his asthma condiFreshman Justin yang is a member of the midwest badminton club and has been playing badminton since 6th grade. tion, exactly what his mother Photo by Gabrielle Bartkevicuite hoped would happen. “[My asthma] improved a lot. see if they work or not,” Yang said. When I started to play, I was always With all of the tournaments he has wheezing,” Yang said. “I’m glad my competed in, Yang has had the opasthma has gotten a lot better. In portunity to watch high-level compethe beginning it was always so hard tition. Perez believes his travels pay for me to breathe, but at least I got dividends to his skill and also his through it.” character. His training revolves around con“I think [these experiences] help ditioning and light-weightlifting and him grow as a person. Badminton is his practices consist of many drills. really competitive in the west coast. They are primarily based around When we go out for tournament, control of the birdie as well as speed, there are 300 boys playing at the but Yang also learns from observing tournaments. Only three or four are other great players and applying from Illinois, and he is one of them,” their techniques to his arsenal. Perez said. “I think it shows that he “I used to watch a lot of badminton can overcome all the challenge life films and watch a bunch of badmincan bring to him in his life, and I’m ton films for the World Championvery happy he is growing with that ship, but now I go to the tournamentality.” ments and watch the best players in the U.S. play and try to learn their Contact Joe at movements then try them myself to jste1881@csd99.org
(Left) Yang gets in ready position to recieve a serve. (Right) Yang performs a drop, a move that allows the birdie to move barely over the net to shift the opponent to the front at his practice at the Midwest Badminon Club on Feb. 25. Photo by Gabrielle Bartkevicuite