Never before has a Royals badminton player at Redeemer University College taken home top spot at a Badminton Invitational, Regional, or Championship at the College/University level. Until now! 1st year badminton player, Owen Kurvits won the highly competitive men's singles event at the Fanshawe Invitational on Saturday defeating the top two men's singles players in the Province.

Owen Kurvits went 6-0 on his way to winning the Gold at the event hosted by Fanshawe College in London, Ontario this past Friday and Saturday.

After cruising through his first 2 matches in the A flight, Kurvits defeated Adam D'Agostino of Mohawk in the round of 16, 2-0 before advancing to the semi-finals with a 2-0 win over Jimin Jung of Seneca in the quarters.

In the semi-final, Kurvits faced off against Ryan Chow of Humber, the winner of the Humber cup earlier this year. Kurvits held off Chow, defeating him 2-1 with scores of 19-21, 21-17, 23-21.

In the Final, Owen pulled out the first game 21-19 in a sea-saw battle against Andrew Lau of Humber. Lau responded in the 2nd game with a 21-17 win. Down 17-11, Kurvits dug deep and showed his skill and determination finishing the match on an impressive 10-1 run claiming his first Championship in his young career as a Royal.

Head Coach Benno Kurvits commented on Owen's tournament play saying, "Owen did not give up. His level of fight was something to behold. It's matches like this (the final) that make badminton a very exciting sport to watch".

Overall, the Redeemer Royals badminton team had an impressive weekend going 33-21 in tournament play. "I think the solid play of the stronger members of our team bolstered the entire team's confidence", said Kurvits. "Everyone seemed to play with a reasonable level of confidence. Always lots to work on though. A solid tournament like this weekend should spur us on in our training, knowing we are becoming more competitive as a team".

Other results for the Redeemer Royals from the invitational are as follows:

Women's Singles
Robyn Bennett 3-1
Julie Koopmans 2-1
Tanya Couperus 1-1
Carla Hogan 4-2 (Women's Singles Consolation Final Runner Up)

Men's Singles
Owen Kurvits 6-0 (Men's Singles A Champion)
Dan Vanden Boogaard 2-1
Shawn Brus 1-1
Nathan Tucker 1-2
Kaleb Antonides 1-1
Trevor Deweerd 1-1

Women's Doubles
Robyn Bennett/Carla Hogan 2-1
Julie Koopmans/Rachel Buys 1-2
Tanya Couperus/Humber Partner 0-2

Men's Doubles
Owen Kurvits/Dan Vanden Boogaard 2-1
Shawn Brus/Trevor Deweerd 1-2
Nathan Tucker/Kaleb Antonides 4-1 (Men's Doubles C Champions)