Michelle Li won the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations girls’ singles’ badminton title last year and this year managed to repeat the feat, easily her coaches say.

“The OFSAA tournament wasn’t much of a challenge for her. She relatively walked through everyone she faced,” Elizabeth Pugh said, Richmond Hill High School co-coach with Steve Walker.

The Richmond Hill Grade 11 student, ranked as the top under-19 girls singles player in Canada, lived up to her ranking at this year’s finals in St. Catharines.

Li was also the York Region Athletic Association gold medallist and she cruised to the title, capped off with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-17) win over Surabh Kadem of Vaughan Road Academy (Toronto) in the title match.

A member of Lee’s Badminton Academy in Markham, Li had little time to dwell on her accomplishment as she immediately left for Montreal to participate in the junior national championships.

Explaining Li’s success on the court, Pugh attributed it to the training she has received at Lee’s Badminton Academy.

“She trains hard outside of school,” Pugh said.

From her training, Li has developed a high degree of quickness, flexibility and a feel for the game.

“She reads her opponents well,” Pugh said. “She’s a real pleasure to watch. Everything seems to come natural to her.”

In addition to her exploits on the court, Pugh noted Li is also a participant in other sports at the school. The athleticism she’s acquired through playing badminton has enabled her to be a power hitter for the senior girls’ volleyball team, a forward for the soccer team and a defender for the flag football squad.

In addition to Li’s exploits at OFSAA, the Richmond Hill High School badminton squad had two other medallists.

In the girls’ singles’ field, Shanaz Currim, a Grade 12 student, won the bronze medal.

In mixed doubles, the York Region Athletic Association champion brother-sister tandem of Mark Wong and Tracy Wong settled for the silver medal after falling 2-0 (21-17, 21-13) to Carrie Li and Timothy Lam of Unionville High School in the gold medal match.

Timothy Chiu of Bayview Secondary School and the YRAA boys’ singles gold medallist, advanced to the final before falling to Nyi Yakura of Dunbarton Secondary School (Pickering) 2-1 (21-17, 17-21, 14-21).