UCI wins second straight national badminton title

UC Irvine won the Badminton Collegiate Nationals at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania recently, making it the second straight year the Anteaters have won the event.

“We were confident going into the competition. We sent 11 players hoping to defend our title and won in a narrow victory,” said Alexandra Easton, UCI’s badminton club treasurer. “It was a great opportunity to represent UC Irvine on the East Coast and return home with the national title.”

This is UCI’s third national championship in the last five years. UCI defeated UC Berkeley this year by three points to earn the title.

UCI’s men’s doubles pair consisting of senior Tuan La and sophomore Steven Jonatan placed first, while sophomore Alice Wen and senior Nicholas Jinadasa also took gold in mixed doubles. Jonatan and sophomore Tiffany Prajudha also made it to the semifinals in the mixed doubles competition.

Jinadasa also took home first place honors in the men’s singles, while senior teammate Andrew Todt was the runner-up in the division.

UCI badminton is part of the club sports program at UCI housed in the department of campus recreation.

— From staff reports