Haileybury’s firsts boys’ badminton team driven by three sets of brothers has taken out the APS Premiership Trophy.
All mad-for-badminton, Erik and Evan Rusli, Mike and Jason Gao, and Arvin Jiao and Kevin Dai were part of the 2023 premiership team who fended off the competition with their fancy footwork and racquet power.
The school won the trophy for the eighth year in a row.
Evan (Year 10) began playing in 2019, with he and Erik (Year 9) motivating each other to train four times a week. They’re also each other’s best support at competition time.
“I get inspiration from Erik because his talent for the game is unrivalled and we complement each other well,” Evan said.
“We pressure each other to get better at the sport and while I’m very disciplined, Erik is naturally skilled, so we bring different qualities to the table.
“Playing the same sport means we each have a good training partner and we totally trust each other. One downside though is that I usually have to pack everything we need for training or a tournament.”
Erik began playing badminton because Evan did, and he enjoys the thrill of playing each point.
“Before matches we relax together by playing video games and watching YouTube and we make sure we both sleep and eat well. We help each other improve our game,” Erik said.
Mike Gao (Year 9) began playing badminton when he was seven years old and Jason (Year 7) began training when he was only six.
“When we’re tired, we encourage each other to keep on going. We play games sometimes and if I win it stimulates Jason to train harder to try to beat me. We also play games with my parents which is a lot of fun,” Mike said.
“We can be competitive towards each other and try and surpass each other and winning a long rally is always satisfying,” Jason said.
Arvin Jiao (Year 11) began playing badminton with his parents when he was five years old and brother Kevin was six. Since then, he has won a series of doubles and singles titles.
Kevin has also won National and State titles.
“Kevin and I help each other to prepare and warm up, we plan our playing strategies and coach each other during a game,” Arvin said.
“We always have good communication when playing doubles and we help each other analyse problems and any mistakes we make – but it’s also easy for us to get into an argument about whose fault it was.”
Kevin enjoys table tennis, volleyball and basketball but badminton is the only sport he plays seriously.
“During doubles matches it’s as if we can read each other’s mind and that brings us a massive advantage. But sometimes during doubles we do fight – it’s better now since we’ve grown up but sometimes it’s still unavoidable,” Kevin said.
Mark Doyle, head of badminton at Haileybury, says the APS Premiership Trophy win again this year is testament to the whole team’s hard work and dedication to their training.
“The boys have all displayed a wonderful sense of enthusiasm and dedication to their sport.
“They all get so much enjoyment from the sport and each other’s company. They are very proud to represent Haileybury and they do so with humility and respect for their opponents.”
