Inglis hits badminton big-time in Malaysia

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This article was published 30/09/2009 (6178 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Provincial badminton champion Leah Inglis has become a world-class athlete who will make her debut on the world stage later this month.

Inglis, Manitoba’s three-time women’s open singles champion, has been named to Canada’s female team for the 2009 Yonex-Sunrise BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Alor Setar, Malaysia Oct. 24-Nov. 1.

The first-year University of Manitoba student has played internationally once before, last month in the Pan Am Junior Championships in Puerto Rico, but this is much bigger.

There will be athletes from 40 countries competing in the individual events and from 22 countries in the team events.

“The Olympics is the highest you can go in badminton, but playing at the world level would be second highest,” said Inglis, 18, who is ranked fifth in Canada among juniors and is the first national-team alternate.

Inglis was named to the team, which includes the top four ranked players, when one of the players was unable to attend.

“This is the top for juniors and I’m really honoured to have the opportunity to go. I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll be focused on going out there to play the best that I can and see how I rank among these top players,” she said.

Inglis, who won her third straight provincial crown in April and is Manitoba’s top-ranked player, said she had earlier resigned herself to the fact that she would not be competing in this year’s world championship.

“When I got the call, I was kind of in shock,” she said. “It still hasn’t really hit me that I’m going. Pan Am juniors was really fun and I know this is going to be an experience that’s even better.”

At the Pan Am junior championships, Inglis won her first-round match against an American opponent to advance to the top 16, but then lost to an opponent from Peru.

“Leah is a very dedicated athlete. Some of her strongest attributes are focus and her fitness,” said Archie Chawla, who coaches Inglis on the provincial team.

“This experience will be huge for her. To be able to go there and be part of it and see what it is like at that level will be tremendous.”

Inglis said her goal this year is to challenge for the women’s singles under-19 national championship and continue to develop. This is her last year as a junior-aged athlete and she’ll then advance to the open category.

In July, prior to the Pan Am event, Inglis trained in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for three weeks and stayed with relatives. She trained for five hours per day, six days per week while she was there with a variety of elite Malaysian players and coaches.

“It toughened me up a bit. There were lots of players better than me in Malaysia so it was a really good learning experience,” Inglis said.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca