Marauders Kao wins OUA badminton MVP
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Marauder badminton standout Jacob Kao had a successful showing at the OUA Badminton tournament on the weekend, where he managed to win the first ever Marauders singles title and OUA MVP.
The second year computer engineering student managed to win all 14 of his matches at the tournament, including the final against a talented Jack Hall from Western, which he managed to win in three sets (21-12, 9-21, 21-16).
Originally hailing from Taiwan, Kao came to Canada after an injury took him out of badminton for a while.
“I played in Taiwan for seven years, but I came here when I was 16 to just study, because I was injured,” said Kao.
Kao’s left ankle injury was pretty severe, and forced him to take a long break from the sport before he recovered.
After moving to Toronto as a Grade 10 student, Kao played for his high school team, where he not only qualified for the Ontario high school championships, but he won as men’s singles champion in 2011 and 2012.
His success in badminton also extends to doubles. Kao was able to prove this on the weekend alongside teammate and OUA rookie of the year, Muhammad Kamaruddin.
The pair managed to win doubles gold in a close three-set match (21-19, 17-21, 21-19) against the Waterloo Warriors, who won the OUA championship, in a close three-set match.
Although Kao had an outstanding weekend, he still feels as though there are areas of his game that he needs to improve on.
“I try to find my weakness and then train harder for my weakness. I think I move a bit slower than other people, so I try to run a lot on the field, and then do a lot of foot work.”
Kao will have a lot of time to work on this aspect of his game before next year’s OUA tournament, which will be here at McMaster in the Ivor Wynne Centre.
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