JOHNSON 4, HARDING 3
Two badminton Goliaths met for the battle of the eastside bragging rights and the #3 Johnson Governors got revenge for their only loss so far this season, 5-2 in the season opener on March 12, with a 4-3 victory at home over previously undefeated and #1 ranked Harding. Johnson flipped first and fourth singles and held on to third singles and first doubles to piece together their victory. Together these two programs have both won 20 of the 29 state team badminton titles. Harding’s last title came in 2009; Johnson’s in 2022.
There have been some line up adjustments for the Governors since March 12. A few players were missing due to a school play. The only player in the same slot in singles was Amanda Her at first. All the other slots were different. Even the doubles had missing players the first go around. The current first doubles of Ganou Vang and Shalisha Vang did not play in the opener.
Only one match went to three sets, and the Knights second doubles duo of Kelly Yang and Lydia Vang topped Cammie Yang and Aliyah Vang in a sandwich win. The second set went to the Johnson pair in extra points. In the first match up Yang & Vang were at first doubles and had a two-set victory.
All three tight sets decided by two points, including both extra point sets went Johnson’s direction. There were three sets also where opponents were unable to score in double digits. Johnson took both singles sets (at fourth singles) while Harding took the final set in third doubles in this manner.
SINGLES
1 Amanda Her, J def Gaozhia Vue 21-19, 21-15
2 Paige Xiong, H def Amelia Her 21-12, 21-14
3 Kang Nang Thao, J def Alexzandria Lewis 21-17, 21-13
4 Kelly Sheen, J def MaivCibLis Her 21-5, 21-7
DOUBLES
1 Ganou Vang / Shalisha Vang, J def Gray Mo / Cindy Yang 23-21, 21-16
2 Kelly Yang / Lydia Vang, H def Cammie Yang / Aliyah Vang 21-12, 21-23, 21-16
3 Taylor Lee / Chiasi Chang, H def Alina Xiong / Bria Xiong 21-13, 21-7
BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: Johnson 3-1 .750
Games: Johnson 6-2 .750
points: Johnson 152-118 .563
Set 1 points: Johnson 75-62 .547
Set 2 points: Johnson 77-56 .579
decided by 10+: Johnson 2-0 1.000
decided by 3-: Johnson 1-0 1.000
margin: Johnson 4.250
DOUBLES
Matches: Harding 2-1 .667
Games: Harding 4-3 .571
points: Harding 142-115 .553
Set 1 points: Harding 63-48 .568
Set 2 points: Harding 58-51 .532
Set 3 points: Harding 21-16 .568
decided by 10+: Harding 1-0 1.000
decided by 3-: tied 1-1 .500
margin: Harding 3.857
FIRST SINGLES
Amanda HER 2, Gaozhia VUE 0
(reported & charted 21-19, 21-15)
#2 Amanda Her upended #1 Gaozhia Vue in two sets flipping a key spot for the Governors win today. In the first meeting Vue won in two sets with an average margin of 5.5 points. Today’s margins were thinner at 4.0. Her got off to strong starts in both sets dictating the flow of the match and forcing Vue to play catch up all day. Vue never led. In both sets Her started with the bird and scored each time. In set one she started with a run of three opening with a five-stroke soft drive to the right and then a three-stroke smash. Meanwhile Her held Vue off serve her first four services in that set. The result was a 8-4 advantage. Her tacked on another three-point run to extend her lead to 13-8. But as the points piled up, Vue gained traction in both sets. Vue won the points after a player reached 11 in both cases 11-10. She was able to score on three straight services breaking through with her first run on her eighth service to cut the gap to 15-13. Vue held off set point in the first set with a two-stroke drive, but Her responded with a four-stroke smash to end set one.
Set two saw Vue again struggle out of the gate. Her held Vue off serve four straight times while getting the longest run of the day on her fifth service (six points) to hold what appeared to be an insurmountable 11-4 lead. Vue regrouped at that point with a stoppage in play. Once she returned she got right back in the thick of it with her first run of the set, a four pointer to close the gap to 11-8. It was Her’s turn to respond, and she added her second run of three to increase the space between the two to 14-8. One more Vue run narrowed the margin back to 16-14. Her wrapped up the night with a four-point run beginning with a two-stroke smash to get the bird back. A key win in flipping the team outcome.
Her won the winner category 24-18 with eight drops proving to be the most used. Vue’s favorite winner came on Clears with six.
Now both players have a victory in the bank against the other. There probably will be more meetings between the two rivals with the City tournament, and possible confrontations at state in team and individual. Vue is 6-1 on the year as is Her.
There was a crash on the back line as Her went back and slipped on a clear to the left back as she continued off the court with her momentum. That came in the second set and Vue won the point on a six-stroke smash because Her was unable to get to the action.
There are only three players in the first singles grouping statewide that have yet to taste victory. The last undefeated state champ at singles came in 2017 with Chusang Nashang of Kennedy at 15-0. That was also the last time a suburban singles player took the crown.
| Category | HER | VUE |
| Side out | 14/22-.636 | 13/23-.565 |
| Longest side out string | 5 (across 2 sets) | 3 |
| 3+ Runs | 5 | 3 |
| Longest point string | 6 | 4 |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 1, 2 | — |
| First point | 1, 2 | — |
| Service points | 20 | 12 |
| Serving % | 40 / 42-.952 | 33 / 34-.971 |
| Point generated off serve | .476 | .353 |
| POINTS | 42 | 34 |
| Points after 11 | 20 | 22 |
| Points after own errors | 12 | 8 |
| Winners after own errors | 8 | 4 |
| STROKES | 182 | 114 |
| Strokes per point | 4.333 | 3.353 |
| 5+ rallies (%) | 14 | 11 |
| 2- rallies (%) | 11 | 14 |
| WINNERS | 24 | 18 |
| Aces | 2 | 2 |
| Blocks | 1 | 0 |
| Clears | 2 | 6 |
| Drives | 3 | 3 |
| Drops | 8 | 2 |
| Soft drives | 2 | 1 |
| Smashes | 6 | 4 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 14 | 11 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 4 | 6 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 10 | 7 |
| ERRORS | 16 | 18 |
| Deep | 0 | 0 |
| Net | 7 | 10 |
| Wide | 7 | 7 |
| Serve | 2 | 1 |
| Even stroke errors | 5 | 11 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 5 | 4 |
| Odd stroke errors | 11 | 7 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||
| Left | 7 | 8 |
| Right | 17 | 10 |
| Largest Lead | 5, 7 | 0, 0 |
| W:E Ratio | 1.500 | 1.000 |
| Margin | 4.000 | |
| Set Point % | 2/3-.667 | |
| Time | 19:18.84 |