Paly badminton’s 2025 season was a huge step in the right direction. The team finished with 8 wins and 5 losses which is a large improvement from last years 3-8 record.
“Overall the season was a pretty big step in the right direction because this year we had a winning record and last year we won 3 games total,” junior Gary Yan said.
Even after some tough loses, the team placed in the top of the De Anza division.
Throughout the season, the team faced adversities like injuries and coaching issues.
“There were some step backs that happened during the season, but this just made us more motivated to win,” junior Tirian Melean said.
After winning only five games in the two seasons combined, the team was hungry for a good season and to prove people wrong.
“Some schools seemed to take us as an easy game the last few years so it felt nice to finally be able to win a few of them,” junior Tirian Melean said.
Another problem that the Vikings faced was the ability to share the courts with other sports. In the start of the season, the Paly’s basketball team made it to the CCS playoffs, which overlapped with Badminton. As they fought to get time on the court, the basketball team took priority causing the badminton team to have extremely late practices.
“It was almost impossible to get any practice time in which I felt effected us in the first few games of the season,” junior Yuvan Vishakin said.
Being able to practice and get reps in during the beginning of the season is extremely important because a lot of new players are still learning and many others are still knocking off the rust form the last season.
Unlike last season, the team was feeling pretty good towards the middle of the season having won multiple games in a row along with coming back and defeating Cupertino after they had been bested by the in the first game of the season. The Vikings then went on to lose a majority of the rest of their games, given that their schedule was harder. Looking back on the season, junior Gary Yan recalls his most memorable part of the season.
“The most memorable part of the season for me was sweeping Homestead” Yan said. “Although they might not have been the best team in our league, it was a great way to end out the year on a high note and it’s also hard to sweep a team no matter who they are.”
The Vikings also recognized that the coaching staff has done a good job this season keeping spirits high and helping players when they needed help.
“The coaching this season was a lot better,” Yan said. “They kept us up even after a tough loss and I felt that we as a team learned a lot from them.”
Vishakin also tells how the coaches were better and more prepared for the season especially during the Cupertino game.
“Our coaches came in with a great game plan and everybody was on board with it,” Vishakin said. “Everybody was even happier after we won.”
With the team putting in hard work this year, they hope to continue and grow into next season where they want to win CCS and finish with an even better regular season record.
