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Canada: Cloutier Rules Women's Events

** This NEW SHUTTLENWS report is presented by YANG YANG Badminton Products and their Western USA agents BADMINTON ALLEY. **

May 2, 1999 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Milaine Cloutier of Alberta yesterday battled past tough opposition in two final matches at the 1999 Canadian national badminton championships in Laval, Quebec and captured the women's singles and the women's doubles titles. She defeated Charmaine Reid of Ontario in the singles championship match 11-7, 9-11 and 11-6 for one of her two crowns. In the doubles final, she and partner Robbyn Hermitage of Quebec beat Reid and veteran Denyse Julien of Quebec 15-5, 11-15 and 15-9 for her second title.

Cloutier's ascendancy to the women's singles title was made easier before the tournament began when Denyse Julien, the 1998 champion and winner of many other titles before that, chose not to defend her crown. Julien had undergone arthoscopic knee surgery several weeks ago and opted to only play the women's and mixed doubles events.

Cloutier, a doubles specialist, also got a boost when she faced a weakened Kara Solmundson of Manitoba, the top seed, in the semifinals. Solmundson had contracted an intestinal infection during a tournament in Peru and was not in top condition. She lost to Cloutier 4-11 and 5-11.

Cloutier's victory in the championship match was all her own though, as she outplayed the power-stroking but mistake-prone Charmaine Reid in the first and third sets.

In the men's singles final, Andrew Dabeka of Ontario outlasted an exhausted Jean-Philippe Goyette of Quebec 8-15, 15-2 and 15-9. Goyette had competed in men's singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles events and also had tough and tiring three-set matches in the men's singles quarterfinals and semifinals. He did not have much left in the second and third sets of the championship match and was easy pickings for the left-handed Dabeka, specially in the one-sided second game.

Dabeka almost did not make it to the final match. He was match point down to Bobby Milroy of Alberta 11-14 in the third set of the semifinals when Milroy was not able to continue due to injury and had to default the match.

Iain Sydie of Alberta and Brent Olynyk of British Columbia defended their men's doubles title with ease. In the final, they beat Phil Allard and Morgan Van Heukelom of British Columbia 15-7 and 15-8.

Sydie also staged a successful defense of his mixed doubles crown with partner Denyse Julien of Quebec. Sydie and Julien are a world-class combination and were ranked among the ten best in the world for part of last year. They were barely tested in the tournament and breezed through their matches without allowing the opposition to score in the double digits in each game. In the championship match, Sydie and Julien easily defeated Brent Olynyk of British Columbia and Robbyn Hermitage of Quebec 15-6 and 15-5.

Following are quarterfinal and semifinal results:

Men's Singles
Quarterfinals
Mike Beres (Ontario) beat Marco Desjardins (Quebec) 15-2, 15-4
Jean-Philippe Goyette (Quebec) beat Stuart Arthur (Ontario) 12-15, 15-5, 15-5
Bobby Milroy (Alberta) beat Brian Abra (Alberta) 17-15, 15-10
Andrew Dabeka (Ontario) beat Morgan Van Heukelom (British Columbia) 15-9, 15-13
Semifinals
Goyette beat Beres 15-8, 11-15, 15-9
Dabeka beat Milroy 9-15, 14-15, 11-14 (Milroy retired)

Women's Singles
Quarterfinals
Kara Solmundson (Manitoba) beat Jody Patrick (Alberta) 11-0, 11-5
Milaine Cloutier (Alberta) beat Nadine Methot (Quebec) 11-5, 11-8
Julia Chen (British Columbia) beat Cindy Arthur (Ontario) 13-11, 11-8
Charmaine Reid (Ontario) beat Anna Rice (British Columbia) 11-3, 11-6
Semifinals
Cloutier beat Solmundson 11-4, 11-5
Reid beat Chen 11-8, 11-0

Men's Doubles
Quarterfinals
Iain Sydie (Alberta) and Brent Olynyk (British Columbia) beat Darren MacVicar and Arne Rungi (Ontario) 15-13, 15-6
Mike Beres (Ontario) and Bryan Moody (Quebec) beat Bobby Milroy and Will Milroy (Alberta) 17-15, 9-15, 15-10
Phil Allard and Morgan Van Heukelom (British Columbia) beat Jonathan Bolduc and Dominic Poulin (Quebec) 15-10, 15-13
Jean-Philippe Goyette and Patrice Flynn (Quebec) beat Kyle Hunter and Lance Hunter (15-5, 15-6
Semifinals
Sydie and Olynyk beat Beres and Moody 15-9, 15-6
Allard and Van Heukelom beat Goyette and Flynn 15-13, 17-15

Women's Doubles
Quarterfinals
Milaine Cloutier (Alberta) and Robbyn Hermitage (Quebec) beat Cindy Arthur (Ontario) and Jody Patrick (Alberta) 15-4, 15-5
Elma Ong and Moira Ong (British Columbia) beat Caroline Gibbings and Kathleen Hunt (Ontario) 15-12, 15-2
Denyse Julien (Quebec) and Charmaine Reid (Ontario) beat Nadine Methot (Quebec) and Anna Rice (British Columbia) 15-6, 15-4
Julia Chen and Jennifer Wong (British Columbia) beat Amalie Belisle and Julie Lavoie (Quebec) 15-5, 15-6
Semifinals
Cloutier and Hermitage beat E. Ong and M. Ong 15-7, 15-6
Julien and Reid beat Chen and Wong 15-11, 15-5

Mixed Doubles
Quarterfinals
Iain Sydie (Alberta) and Denyse Julien (Quebec) beat Jean-Philippe Goyette (Quebec) and Elma Ong (British Columbia) 15-3, 15-2
Will Milroy (Alberta) and Jennifer Wong (British Columbia) beat Mike Beres (Ontario) and Kara Solmundson (Manitoba) 11-15, 17-15, 15-13
Stuart Arthur and Cindy Arthur (Ontario) beat Morgan Van Heukelom and Moira Ong (British Columbia) 6-15, 15-7, 15-12
Brent Olynyk (British Columbia) and Robbyn Hermitage (Quebec) beat Patrick Gosselin and Nancy Demers (Quebec) 16-17, 15-6, 15-8
Semifinals
Sydie and Julien beat W. Milroy and Wong 15-4, 15-8
Olynyk and Hermitage beat S. Arthur and C. Arthur 4-15, 15-6, 15-3

(apl/mc)

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