Nicolas Germain won the men’s singles gold medal at the RSEQ individual badminton championships on March 8 in Sherbrooke, Quebec.
The McGill Redbirds senior defeated Laval’s Étienne Chouinard 21-12, 18-21, 21-16 in the final match. Seeded second in the tournament, Germain worked his way through the draw with victories against Sherbrooke’s Olivier Laliberté and teammate Siqi Zhang before beating Guillaume Blais of Laval in the semifinal.
The victory crowns a four-year university career for the 23-year-old kinesiology student from Laval, Quebec. Germain earned RSEQ rookie-of-the-year honors during the 2022-23 season, followed by a silver medal as a sophomore and a bronze medal last year.
Alongside his singles title, Germain teamed up with Lareina Shen in mixed doubles. The McGill pair reached the quarterfinal round before exiting the tournament.
McGill athletes advance deep into tournament brackets
Several other McGill athletes advanced deep into the tournament brackets over the March 6-8 weekend. Skyler Xiao and Teague Chan Carusone secured a gold medal in the men’s doubles consolation bracket, while multiple Redbirds pairs reached the main draw quarterfinals.
In the women’s division, Parmida Nami advanced to the final of the women’s singles consolation draw. The wider McGill and Martlets contingent placed competitors in the later rounds across multiple singles and doubles events.
Championship medal summary
The provincial tournament awarded medals across five distinct categories during the weekend competition in Sherbrooke. Heidi Chon of Montréal captured the women’s singles gold medal, defeating Laval’s Frédérique Labbé in the final.
In men’s doubles, Laval’s Guillaume Blais and Antoine Dufour took the gold medal. Montréal athletes Heidi Chon and Kalyanne Truong claimed the women’s doubles title, while Montréal’s Jenny Zhang and Samuel Yick won gold in mixed doubles.
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