Badminton: Stevenson, Naperville North share state lead
Stevenson and Naperville North had a perfect Day 1 in the high school badminton state tournament at Eastern Illinois University on Friday - and Fremd was nearly perfect.
The Patriots and Huskies had nothing but victories from both their singles and both their doubles entrants to gather 12 points and a tie for first place in the team standings.
Fremd's only loss of the day came in the third round of the doubles championship draw. The Vikings have 11 points and are alone in third place, well ahead of fourth-place Neuqua Valley (7 points).
Stevenson's third-round singles wins came from Esther Shi and Shibani Ram. Shi topped Palatine's Rose Clement 21-7, and Ram topped Conant's Burcin Asilturk 21-13, 21-6.
In third-round doubles play, Stevenson's Emily Hu/Jenny Yang defeated Fremd's Jasmine Caro/Sharon Wu 21-6, 21-8, and the Pats' Jyotsna Harikrishna/Benna Li won in straight sets against their foes from DeKalb.
Naperville North singles players Emma Lin and Bhaavya Manikonda both won their third-round matchups decisively.
In doubles, the Huskies' Stephanie Liang/Kathleen Nie won their third-round contest against Buffalo Grove's Bella Berns/Sarah Katz, Buffalo Grove, 21-19, 21-19. And Naperville North's Clara Duan/Taylor Zhou topped Elgin's Alicia Thounsavath/Annisia Thounsavath 22-20, 20-22, 21-11.
Fremd's Rachel Ye and Kellie Liu are both in great shape after two-set wins in the third round of singles. Ye handled Libertyville's Kathleen Jin 21-6, 21-7, and Liu topped Gowri Salem of Neuqua Valley 21-9, 21-13.
Fremd's top doubles tandem, Hannah Chen/Jenny Li, defeated Downers Grove North's Natalie White/Susannah Browning 21-11, 21-17 in the third round.
In third-round singles action, Waubonsie Valley's Sonali Manoharan defeated Prospect's Jolene Neuhalfen 21-14, 21-2 and Hinsdale Central's Cindy Tang beat Willowbrook's Hanna Konrath 21-10, 21-5.
In doubles, Neuqua Valley and Metea Valley have teams alive in the championship draw after third-round wins.
Joyce Chen/Helen Zhao of Neuqua Valley advanced by topping Colleen Stanford/Serena Zhang (Prospect) 21-17, 21-18, and Metea Valley's Nitya Nagarajan/YunWei Liang beat Wheaton Warrenville South's Julianna Rylko/ Hannah Kearney 21-18, 15-21, 21-15.
Palatine, Hinsdale Central and Thornton Fractional South are tied for fifth place with 6 points. Downers Grove North (4.5) is ninth, and Prospect (4) is in 10th.