Saturday, May 6, the 2023 Victor – Badminton NL Provincial Senior Championships held in St. John’s, NL brought together many players from the province but also the team of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, Club SPM, who came to the city to participate.

During a day that was long for players playing in several events, the Men’s Singles final between Drake Lyons and Adithya Anantharamakrishnan regaled us with a match of very high calibre in which it was difficult to decide between the players, respectively first and second seeds in this Canadian province. It was finally the number 1 who prevailed in a victory snatched at the last minute with a 21-19 score in the third set. In the Consolation final, Erwan Durand of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon beat Travis Cormier of St. John’s 21-15, 21-17 to bring back a bronze medal to the archipelago.

The Men’s Doubles was also an occasion of a high-level show in which the finalist Adithya Anantharamakrishnan, Men’s Singles finalist, paired with Shiv Tilva, to beat the defending champions Drake Lyons and Jason Leong in two straight sets, 21-12, 21-16. In the Consolation round, Mark Walsh and Chen Wei beat Nathan Gendron and Dylan Taylor of St. John’s in two identical sets of 21-8.

In Women’s Singles, the outcome of the round-robin showed 1st seed Jessica Willcottl, HPTG prevail over Sophie Taylor of Conception Bay North Club in a close match of 27-25, 21-19.

In the Women’s Doubles, young Candice Feral and Noémie Sabarots from Saint-Pierre and Miquelon offered some beautiful matches with close scores, but it was finally long-time player Stephanie Stanley of Conception Bay South, and Sophie Taylor from Conception Bay North who won the round-robin.

For the Mixed Doubles final, Drake Lyons returned to partner with Jessica Willcott to win against Adithya Anantharamakrishnan in a tense three set match 14-21, 21-16, 21-19. The two champions from Men’s and Women’s singles provided a great match to the delight of the audience present. In the Consolation event, the young couple Saint-Pierrais Sean Sbeghen-Lamiraud and Noémie Sabarots snatched a great victory from Nathan Geendron and Azrin Alishba, 21-18 to add another medal to the table for Club SPM.

Finally, it was the turn of the Masters over 30s to shine with their experience and talent. The president of the Saint-Pierre club Alexandre Hubard and Louis Hardy were distinguished by their excellent game in the 100% Saint-Pierraise final where Alexandre won handily 21-12, 21-8. Sadly, there was no Masters Doubles so these two players, eliminated from the Open Men’s Doubles were able to place first and second in the Master’s Singles category.

This was the first opportunity for Club Saint-Pierre et Miquelon to compete against players from Newfoundland and Labrador and the tournament ended in a good mood and badminton spirit. It is certain that there will be other Badminton NL tournaments in the coming years which wiill include players from the Club SPM, and as well players from Newfoundland and Labrador hope to play on the home turf of the newest members of Badminton NL.