The Times’ All-County High School Teams : BADMINTON : Tran’s Determination to Beat the Best Pays Off

Barbara Tran wasn’t looking for inspiration last February when she started her first badminton season at Troy High School; inspiration found her.

Tran, a sophomore, met Covina’s Eileen Tang--the Southern Section’s top-ranked girls’ singles player--in an early-season dual meet.

Tang, a senior, defeated Tran, 11-7, 11-6, but Tran was far from discouraged.

“All Barbara wanted to do was play Eileen again,” Marv Hoover, Troy coach, said. “That’s all she talked about. Every tournament we’d go to, Barbara would always ask, ‘Will Eileen be there? Is Eileen coming?’ That’s all she ever wanted to know.”

Tran played Tang two weeks later at the Azusa tournament. Tang won again, 3-11, 11-5, 11-6, but not without losing the first game to Tran.

“I wanted to beat her after she beat me the first time,” Tran, 16, said. “Then even (more so) after she beat me again.”

Tran, a very quick player, began running to help her endurance, and practiced with the boys on the team to help her skills.

Her improvement helped her go undefeated in the Garden Grove League. She won the girls’ singles title at the league championship and also won the Estancia tournament.

Her final test came at the Southern Section individual championships at Cal State Dominguez. Tran, the third-seeded player, defeated second-seeded Stacey Murty of Miraleste, 11-7, 11-6, in the tournament semifinals.

With that victory, Tran advanced to the final against (who else?) Tang.

Tran won, 11-3, 11-3.

“I don’t think Barbara made an error in the entire match,” Hoover said. “The key to the game was Barbara was able to move Eileen around and tire her out.”

Tran, The Times’ badminton player of the year, finished the season 47-3. Along with two losses to Tang, she lost only to teammate Cindy Rhone, a senior, in the final of the Garden Grove tournament.

Looking back, Hoover said he wouldn’t have guessed Tran would come so far so fast this season.

“I figured she’d be our No. 2 girl,” he said. “But she was just so determined to win. Just the fact that there was someone out there who had beaten her was enough to motivate her.

“Barbara has a lot of pride, and that makes her work extremely hard.”

ALL-COUNTY

GIRLS’ SINGLES Barbara Tran . . . Troy Cindy Rhone . . . Troy

BOYS’ SINGLES Hoang Ly . . . Estancia Chulki Song . . . Buena Park

BOYS’ DOUBLES Binh Tran . . . Garden Grove Phi Ta . . . Garden Grove Jason Chong . . . Garden Grove Santikul Silavong . . . Garden Grove

GIRLS’ DOUBLES Heather Hassinger . . . Buena Park Tanya Vandervort . . . Buena Park

MIXED DOUBLES Hoang Ly . . . Estancia An Nguyen . . . Estancia Chulki Song . . . Buena Park Tu Le . . . Buena Park Binh Tran . . . Garden Grove Loan Mach . . . Garden Grove