From a SDSSAA (Sudbury District Secondary Schools Athletic Association) perspective, Nyah Robinson is flying solo this week at the OFSAA Badminton Championships in Milton / Burlington.

Not that the St Charles College Cardinals senior is likely to mind a whole lot.

"I like to control the court my way," stated the NOSSA Senior Girls Singles champion and sole Sudbury representative to advance to provincials as part of the ten-person regional delegation.

"I don't want to have to rely on anyone else, other than myself," Robinson added, having beaten Alexie Carré (Algonquin - NB) in the bracket final last week at St Benedict. "That's just a preference for me."

A multi-sport talent who also starred with the St Charles senior girls volleyball team that qualified for OFSAA in addition to suiting up as a member of the Northern Chill Volleyball Club this winter, Robinson has seen in her interest in badminton grow with every passing year.

"When I first started playing in grade eight, I would always play for fun with my friends, my parents," she said. "But then I won NOSSA in grade nine and that motivated me to play more and continue to practice more."

In taking down Carré in the NOSSA final, Robinson overcame a very talented club competitor, combining her natural court coverage with an ever-increasing understanding of the more strategic aspects of the sport.

"I realized, when I played her the first time, that she was strong in certain things she did on the court," said Robinson. "When she won the rematch, I knew that I had to start placing the birdie better in order to make her move more."

Because Robinson was still unbeaten heading to the gold medal encounter, Carré needed to take back to back matches against the Sudbury girl. A classic three set battled ensured, with the 16 year-old local prevailing and ensuring there would be at least one SDSSAA athlete in the field this week at provincials.

"I got a bit rattled (after the first loss) and talked to my coach and my dad - and we tried to figure out a way to beat her," said Robinson. "I turned it up in the third set."

With the structure of NOSSA Badminton being such that only the top two placements in each of the five senior divisions move on to OFSAA, the nickel city elite found themselves in tough against a very strong crop of North Bay talent.

In terms of the Sudbury pipeline of talent, there is reason for optimism as Ryan Corrigan (gold - Lo-Ellen) and Blake Chenier (silver - Horizon) claimed the top two spots in Junior Boys Singles play at NOSSA, with Manu Patil (Girls Singles - Lo-Ellen) and Emma Jensen/Sophie Leveille (Girls Doubles - Champlain) also earning silver medals in this age bracket at regionals.

Top two finishers from Sudbury in the Novice Division included Luca Chartrand / Samuele Marquis (gold - Boys Doubles - Sacré Coeur), Théo Lalonde (silver - Boys Singles - Champlain) and Lia Gallo / Rowan Frood (silver - Girls Doubles - Lo-Ellen).

Following is a breakdown of the NOSSA athletes who are competing at OFSAA:

Boys Singles
Gold - Dylan Wootton (Superior Heights - SSM)
Silver - Cam Hernden (Superior Heights - SSM)

Girls Singles
Gold - Nyah Robinson (St Charles College)
Silver - Alexie Carré (Algonquin - NB)

Boys Doubles
Gold - Francis Morneau / Marc Giroux (Odysée - NB)
Silver - Jackson Peake / Owen Bass-Taggart (West Ferris - NB)

Girls Doubles
Gold - Gabbie Dufresne-Nappert / Victoria Charbonneau (Algonquin - NB)
Silver - Annie Boal / Jihae Choi (Chippewa - NB)

Mixed Doubles
Gold - Wade Belanger / Dania Lalonde (Franco Cité - NB / Sturgeon Falls)
Silver - Nathan Hussell / Rory Corbeil (St Joseph Scollard Hall - NB)