Northeast Juniors to Compete in International Tournaments

 Six Northeast junior badminton players have qualified to compete in the XX Pan Am Junior Championships 2011 in Kingston, Jamaica on July 24-31. To qualify for this international tournament, they had to be one of the top finishers in their age group at the Junior International Trials (JIT) held in Fremont, CA last February.  After competing in a group of round-robin style qualifiers, they went on to the playoffs where they finished in the top four of their event.  This earned them a spot on the American Team and a chance to represent the USA at the Pan Am Junior Championships. The following Northeast players will be part of the United States team competing in Jamaica:

Philip Donlon, Marblehead, MA - U19-boys doubles, mixed doubles

Austin Liou, North Potomac, MD – U19-boys doubles

Alan Shekhtman, Waban, MA – U17-boys singles (first place finisher)

Alena Wang, Rockville, MD – U15-girls singles, girls doubles

Darren Yang, Acton, MA – U15-boys doubles, mixed doubles

Clayton Cayen, Marblehead, MA – U11-boys singles, boys doubles, mixed doubles

Additionally, the JIT winners of the U17 age group qualified for the U17 USA Junior National team.  This team will travel to Asia this summer for a special project aimed at preparing a future team USA for international competition.  The purpose of the project is to teach young athletes how to adjust to new training styles,to different time zones,and to develop a team spirit.   Northeast junior Alan Shekhtman qualifed for the Team as the U17 BS Champion.

The 4 girls amd 4 boys in the team are:
Girls: Christine Yang, Stephanie Lam, Angela Lin, Kelly Truong.
Boys: Alan Shekhtman, Kenneth Hui, William Cheung, Martin Hung.

Training plan includes 4 days of training at Hong Kong (in Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI)) and 4 days of training at Guangzhou province of China (at BWF Guangzhou International Training Center) . The training will be conducted by local coaches.

Coach Sasha Boyarin from Boston has graciously accepted as the coach to escort the team throughout the program in HK and Guangzhou.  Also, a USA Badminton Director, Moahan Subramaniam will accompany the team as well.  Bernard Hung will chaperone the group and share the experience.  

The team will be trained together with the local players.  There will be a morning and afternoon session each day.  On days with only one session, the other half day will be for events with either parents or other players.  This also gives time for the team to hang out together outside of the court, if possible.

All participants are very excited about this trip and looking forward to make new badminton friends in Asia.

Yvonne Chern - Chair, Junior Committee of NER

For further information about NER Juniors, contact Yvonne Chern, Chair of the Junior Committee (wychern@comcast.net)