Tzou's Perfect Badminton Season Ends With State Singles Crown

There was no player more disappointed on the first two days of the CCCAA State Badminton Championships than Pasadena City College's Rebecca Tzou. The sophomore was hoping to perform a magical triple in titles. But first she saw her Lancers lose in the state team final, 11-10, against Fresno City on Thursday. Then on Friday, poised to repeat as a state individual doubles champion, she didn't even get the chance to defend the crown as partner Sandra Maw suffered an injury before their first match that resulted in the duo being eliminated from the competition.

Although not of her doing, those letdowns proved to motivate Tzou in the only competition left for her--championship singles. Tzou mowed through two opponents on Friday and followed that with two comeback, 3-set wins Saturday as she was crowned state champion. Her Lancers teammates and head coach Jennifer Ho ran to group hug the victorious Tzou in celebration of her achievement. Tzou finished the year a perfect 33-0 in singles play.

Tzou's route on the final day was a tough one as she first rallied to beat Irvine Valley's Jurate Foes, 17-21, 21-11, 21-11, in the semifinals. The two players each were state runner-ups, Tzou last year and Foes in 2014. 

In the final, Tzou outplayed another Irvine Valley talent in Cora Tanuwidjaja, but used strategy in ulimately winning the title, 18-21, 21-10, 21-15. She rallied after trailing, 11-8, at the break in the final set, and was behind as late as 14-12. At that point, Tzou took over the match with a 9-1 rally that clinched the victory.

"My strategy was to cut off her drops," Tzou said. "It benefited me to have a longer match. After I lost the first game, I knew I would need to push her and get her tired. That's where my fitness came in. My coach had us run two to three miles during the week at practices and really helped my strength and endurance. I knew that she can use brute force so I wouldn't let her clear her smashes. It was exciting to win in front of my team and home fans."

Against Foes, Tzou changed her tactics after losing the opening set. She went to a more aggressive style and used a variety of hard smashes and net volleys to rout the more experienced Laser. Tzou opened 13-5 advantages in each of the last two sets. 

"That was the match I really wanted," she said. "Once I started going to smashes in the second set, I was able to get the momentum."

Earlier in the tournament, Tzou scored sweeps over Grossmont's Rebekah Leslie, 21-8, 21-11, and then against Fresno City's Lucy Lor in the quarterfinals, 21-15, 21-17. 

PCC's pair of Eugenia Mendez and Ana Espinoza won the consolation doubles title, beating De Anza's YuYu Hsuan Liu and PanYue Liao, 21-17, 21-12. The Lancers duo also rallied to beat Grossmont's Saki Kaneko and Tran Pham, 17-21, 21-15, 21-9, earlier in the day.

"There were times in the season where Rebecca may not have been as focused as we'd have liked," Ho said of her top player. "But, she was on her game in the state team final and almost carried us by herself. In the individuals, she was on a mission to win. Her focus and determination and, of course, her talent came through."

Tzou is the first Lancer to capture both a singles and a doubles title in a career and the first to win singles since Angie Ortiz won PCC's first-ever state individual title in 2012. 

It was a banner day for South Coast Conference schools as East Los Angeles won the doubles title and the consolation singles crown in a four titles sweep by the conference.