EDEN PRAIRIE 6, WASHBURN 1
After two years of no badminton out & abouts I have returned. This should be somewhat of a return to the olden days of 2019 and before. So why this game? Two important reasons: the individual portion of the state tournament is to be held at Eden Prairie and I wanted to refamiliarize myself with the court lay out; and I needed to converse with coach Sampson of Washburn about the upcoming Minneapolis tournament and their seeding procedures.
The state tournament of 2021 will not be like the past few years with everyone on all the teams involved. You can blame the virus for that turn of events. That means we are back to the future. Before Burnsville hosted the individual portion of the state tournament, EP was the host. But that was also in the days where the drop flight was not used. This year it will be one and done for both singles and doubles, no B, C or D flights. A total of 62 potential matches will take place. That is down from the 200+ in the two day event in 2019. Since schools will only be permitted one entry for singles and doubles some maneuvering will take place. This is the “Frankenstein” scenario where some players that have been playing singles all year show up for the big day as a doubles pair. Washburn is test driving their concoction with singles players Hannah and Eleanor merging into doubles #1 for the Millers. That experiment worked out in their favor, but it was the Millers’ only victory against the hosts. The Eagles dominated the singles as a result and picked up the final two doubles for their 6-1 victory. EP picked up strength in the singles with a better showing in the second set across the board. The Eagles held their opponents to single digits if five of the eight singles sets. Doubles were much closer with the first doubles the best (or closest) match of the day with each set decided by three points.
SINGLES
1. Thuy-yen Tran, EP def Elli 21-6, 21-6
2. Abbey Ladegaard, EP def Amanda 21-9, 21-6
3. Manushri Ivaturi, EP def Ava 21-15, 21-13
4. Ishani Manda, EP def Hannah 21-15, 21-5
DOUBLES
1. Hannah / Eleanor, W def Laurel Connett / Lucy Gerst 21-18, 21-18
2. Maya Kramer / Kaitlin Bryhn, EP def Lily/ Paloma 21-13, 21-10
3. Sofi Clawson / Grace Moen, EP def Neela / Grace 21-10, 21-13
BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: Eden Prairie 4-0 1.000
Games: Eden Prairie 8-0 1.000
points: Eden Prairie 168-75 .691
1st pts: Eden Prairie 84-45 .651
2nd pts: Eden Prairie 84-30 .737
decided by 10+: Eden Prairie 5-0
decided by 3-: none
margin: Eden Prairie 10.333
DOUBLES
Matches: Eden Prairie 2-1 .667
Games: Eden Prairie 4-2 .667
points: Eden Prairie 120-88 .577
1st pts: Eden Prairie 60-44 .577
2nd pts: Eden Prairie 60-44 .577
decided by 10+: Eden Prairie 2
decided by 3-: Washburn 2
margin: Eden Prairie 5.333
FIRST SINGLES
Thuy-Yen TRAN 2, Elli 0
(21-6, 21-6)
EP’s Thuy-Yen Tran finished strong in both sets to beat Elli in two. Washburn’s Elli has been moved to the number one position with the former singles one and two now at first doubles. Tran took advantage of the one v three match up with big advantages in service points (32-3), winners (25-1) and points after 11 (20-2). Tran’s favorite winner was the smash with 15 points (.600). This is because the bird held up in the air too often. Both sets were completed in a fraction above eleven minutes.
Tran is now 3-8 on the year. This was her first two set win of the season. Elli is 4-1 according to my records, but this was the first time as first singles.
| Category | TRAN | ELLI |
| Side out | 8/10-.800 | 2/11-.182 |
| Longest side out string | 4(2 sets) | 2 |
| 3+ Runs | 6 | 1 |
| Longest point string | 9 | 3 |
| SERVING | ||
| Service points | 32 | 3 |
| Serving % | 41/41-1.000 | 10/13-.769 |
| POINTS | ||
| Overall points | 42 | 12 |
| Points after 11 | 20 | 2 |
| Points after own errors | 8 | 5 |
| STROKES | ||
| Strokes | 125 | 37 |
| Strokes per point | 2.976 | 1.947 |
| 5+ rallies | 5 | 1 |
| 2- rallies | 16 | 3 |
| WINNERS | 25 | 1 |
| Aces | 1 | 0 |
| Blocks | 0 | 0 |
| Clears | 1 | 0 |
| Drives | 6 | 0 |
| Drops | 1 | 0 |
| Soft drives | 1 | 0 |
| Smashes | 15 | 1 |
| ERRORS | 11 | 17 |
| Deep | 1 | 5 |
| Fan | 3 | 0 |
| Net | 6 | 5 |
| Wide | 1 | 4 |
| Serve | 0 | 3 |
| W:E Ratio | 2.273 | 0.059 |
| Margin | 15.0 | |
| Set Point % | 2/2-1.000 | |
| Time | 11:05 |