Purdue University
wins 2009 Great Lakes Campus Invitational
(April 26, 2009 - Gary, Ind.) - Purdue University won its third NBL Great Lakes Campus Invitational on April 26, 2009 with an undefeated 5-0 win-loss record in the event's round-robin format. The Great Lakes Campus Invitational, an annual event since 1998, was held at Indiana University Northwest and included co-ed teams from Purdue University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Illinois-Chicago, Eastern Illinois University, Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.
The NBL format takes the sport of badminton, traditionally an individual sport, and lets men and women compete in a co-recreational team format. Multiple games are played in men's singles, men's doubles, women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles. Each game won is a point in the total team score in the best-of-nine point format. In keeping with the co-recreational emphasis of the NBL format, mixed doubles is always played as the final event.
For the Purdue University team, the key match was their final-round encounter with the University of Pennsylvania. Going into this round, both teams were undefeated, and this match would determine first place.
Purdue held a 5-3 lead going into the mixed doubles. University of Pennsylvania needed to win the mixed doubles game to take the match into Overtime, and they did just that. With Purdue leading 5-4, the University of Pennsylvania won the Overtime mixed doubles game and forced the match into a Tiebreak. A new rule for 2009, the Tiebreak is a shortened mixed doubles played to five points. Purdue got off to a 2-0 lead, Pennsylvania went ahead 3-2, Purdue leveled at 3-3, and then Penn reached 4-3 - two match points. Purdue saved the first match point, and the with score tied at 4-4, it was now match point for both teams. A well-placed low serve from Purdue forced a return error from Penn, giving Purdue a 5-4 win in the Tiebreak and a close 6-5 match win.
Results
First Round. Purdue University d Eastern Illinois University 6-2,
University of Pennsylvania d Eastern Illinois University 6-2, University of
Illinois-Chicago d University of Chicago 6-3.
Second Round. Purdue University d University of
Illinois-Chicago 5-4, University of Pennsylvania d Northwestern University 5-4,
University of Chicago d Eastern Illinois University 6-4.
Third Round. Northwestern University d University of
Illinois-Chicago 6-3, University of Pennsylvania d University of Chicago 7-2,
Purdue University d Eastern Illinois University 7-2.
Fourth Round. University of Illinois-Chicago d University of Pennsylvania
9-0, Purdue University d University of Chicago 6-4, Northwestern University d
Eastern Illinois University 9-0.
Fifth Round. Purdue University d University of Pennsylvania 6-5,
University of Illinois-Chicago d Eastern Illinois University 6-3, University of
Chicago d Northwestern University 6-3.
Final Standings
1. Purdue University (5-0, 31 games won)
2. University of Illinois-Chicago (3-2, 30 games won)
3. University of Pennsylvania (3-2, 23 games won)
3. Northwestern University (2-3, 24 games won)
4. University of Chicago (2-3, 21 games won)
5. Eastern Illinois University (0-5, 11 games won)
University of Pennsylvania
