Badminton: Naperville North duo a real find

Naperville North senior Clare Jiang already was a winner on the badminton court with two previous state berths in doubles.

Thanks to her infectious personality, that success will continue - and possibly increase - this season.

Searching for a new partner, Jiang ultimately found a great one in freshman Clara Duan.

That is, once she was persuaded.

"At first I was like, 'I don't want to play doubles with anyone because I'm very singles oriented,' " Duan said. "When I met Clare, though, I was really happy because she's really peppy and she's good."

The good times continued Saturday. Jiang and Duan remained undefeated in capturing the No. 1 doubles title at Wheaton Warrenville South's annual Birdie Bash.

Naperville North senior Jessalyn Liu and junior Glyn He also won at No. 2 doubles in a format with six teams playing round-robin duals of four singles and four doubles.

Hinsdale Central took the team title with 29 points. The Tigers, Deerfield and Fremd were second through fourth with 23, 22 and 21 points, followed by the Huskies' 19 points and Glenbard South with 6. Most lineups were affected by absent players because of college testing.

Second-place finishers were WW South freshman Julianna Rylko at No. 1 singles and the No. 3 doubles team of junior Zoe Meyer and sophomore Hannah Kearney and Naperville North senior Lillian Guo at No. 4 singles. The Tigers had four third places, with seniors Morgan Gagnon and Stephanie Lemm at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, the No. 2 doubles team of seniors Emily Bradley and Kripa Poozhikunnel and the No. 4 doubles team of juniors Elsa Barron and Kathryn Holy.

At state in 2015, Jiang finished among the top 12 but senior partner Stephanie Chen did not return this season. Only five other players among the top 12 in doubles did not graduate.

So far, Jiang and Duan (14-0) have not even lost a game.

"We hope to win (state). That's our goal," Jiang said. "I was really fortunate for Clara to come in. It's been a great experience playing with her. She's obviously a great player. It's been overall really fun. A little bit (concerned) at first, but we've played well so it's fine."

Jiang also is a team leader. She's the only returnee from last year's state lineup that earned a third-place team finish.

"She is a very bubbly player. She's a very optimistic player. If Clare loses, she seeks to improve," Naperville North coach Heather Schild said. "(She and Clara) meshed pretty early so it's been nice to just kind of refine their play. They've been doing great working with each other and drilling at practice."

Duan brings club experience from Egret Badminton Training Center in Schaumburg. Duan is undefeated at No. 1 singles and Jiang has one three-game loss at No. 2.

Rylko has impacted the Tigers' veteran lineup with club experience from Midwest Badminton Club in Naperville. She only has lost four singles matches.

"I know I can always do better, just a few mental things to work on," Rylko said. "(The upperclassmen) have been helping me with what to do (at meets), where to go, all of the little things. It's just getting used to high school, plus as a freshman, it's really stressful just because everything's stressful as a freshman."

Gagnon is among five Tigers back from the sectional lineup. She's a combined 25-7 this season with just one doubles loss playing with Rylko.

"I can play her every single day at practice and it will challenge me every single time," Gagnon said. "With (my) increased skill set in addition to a more composed mindset, this season at sectionals will be a lot more successful."

Glenbard South's lone returning 2015 sectional players are the doubles team of senior Logan Fenhouse and junior Paityn Schabes. While the Raiders are stronger, being full time at No. 1 this season has resulted in tougher competition. They were 1-4 Saturday.

"To be honest, I don't keep track of our losses. Each game is a totally new slate so whatever we do is going to be improvement next game," Schabes said. "Not going to lie, it's tough. It's tough but it's fun. I like the challenge."

"That's the end goal, to make it to state, but even if we don't, we just want to have fun," Fenhouse said.