Eva Lee wins state badminton singles and doubles titles
May 14, 2006
Only two weeks ago, Irvine Valley College freshman Eva Lee faced the
world’s No. 1-ranked women’s badminton player Zhang Ning of China.
Lee, playing for Team USA, lost that No. 1 singles match as part of the
Uber Cup competition held in Japan April 28. On Saturday, it was the
19-year-old Lee’s turn to show why she is the No. 1-ranked player in
the U.S.
Lee captured both the individual singles and individual doubles crowns
at the California Community Colleges Commission on Athletes Women’s
Badminton Championships presented by U.S. Bank, including a dominating
performance in the singles final at Pasadena City College.
Completing the match as if she had just barely enough time to catch a
bus, Lee powered past City College of San Francisco’s Maggie Choy,
11-0, 11-1. Lee captured the state title in an amazing eight minutes.
She broke Choy’s serve in the first game, then scored the next 11
points in succession. The second game wasn’t much different as Lee used
a variety of overhand smashes, backhands, and short volleys to win the
match.
In the doubles final, Lee and IVC teammate Yuki Nakagawa also played a
short match in defeating the San Diego City pair of Jenny Chau and
Cecilia Do, 15-2, 15-3.
Lee, the 2004 USA Badminton Player of the Year and a hopeful for the
2008 Olympics, said she didn’t take her community college title matches
lightly.
“I take every match I play seriously,” Lee said. “I feel like I have to
play my best no matter the opponent, or I might not win. I think if I
were facing a nationally ranked player on the other side of the net,
that’s going to be really tough for the opponent. I still find myself
mentally stressed to perform well going into a match.”
Lee added to her awards case after winning CIF singles and doubles
titles at two different California high schools, Cupertino and Villa
Park. She was just 14 when she won the Central Coast Section girls
singles championship as a high school freshman at Cupertino.
After giving Irving Valley its second consecutive singles championship,
Lee helped make it five consecutive doubles crowns for the college.
IVC did not win the state team championship this year (San Diego City
won Thursday over San Francisco) after winning four straight from
2002-2005.
story courtesy of Robert Lewis at Pasadena City College