Hamilton, ON - The Marauders finished fourth at the 2008 OUA Badminton Championshipsafter falling 9-4 to the Toroto University Varsity Blues in the Bronze medal match.

The Western Mustangs won their fourth straight Ontario University Athletics (OUA) badminton championship with an 8-5 victory over the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday afternoon at McMaster University's David Braley Athletic Centre.

McMaster highlights in the bronze medal match consisted of wins in four of the five categories. Sen Hoong Phang (Thornhill, ON)defeated Andy Lam in two sets (21-15, 21-18) to pick up Mac's first win of the day as the first seeded male. The Marauders' second seeded female, Allison Bennett (Oakville, ON), took the second and third sets (18-21, 21-15, 21-14) against Shinlin Cheung for McMaster's second of four wins. The last two wins came from the men's double pair of Jacky Ng (Ancaster, ON)and Graham Dalseg (Sault Ste. Marie, ON) and the mixed doubles pair of Dalseg and Bennett.

The Mustangs, who finished first in the regular season with a perfect 5-0 record, advanced to the final with a 10-3 semi-final win over the host McMaster Marauders on Saturday morning. The second place Warriors edged the Toronto Varsity Blues 8-5 in the other semi-final.

Western was led by five-time OUA Most Valuable Player Jennifer Lam (Toronto, Ont.) who won every set in every match at the OUA Badminton Championship, going a perfect 2-0 in each of her four matches in both women's singles and mixed doubles play.

Lam defeated Waterloo's Amanda Carruthers of Mississauga, Ont. (21-6, 21-12) in the gold-medal match after defeating McMaster's Allison Bennett of Oakville, Ont. (21-15, 21-13) in the semi-final.

In mixed doubles, Lam teamed up with Ross Golding (Toronto, Ont.) in the No. 1 mixed doubles and won (21-8, 21-14) in the gold-medal draw.

Earlier, Lam and Peter Butler (Toronto, Ont.) defeated former Mustang Sen Hoong Phang (Thornhill, Ont.) and his McMaster partner Jamie Williams of Mississauga, Ont. (23-21, 21-14) in the semis.

Toronto defeated McMaster 9-4 to claim the bronze medal.

The Mustangs overcame a 0-3 deficit after being swept in men's singles by the Warriors. Western won eight of the remaining 10 matches to secure their fourth championship title.

The OUA also awared their 2008 major award winners and All-Stars at the banquet that was held after the tournament.

Wayne King from the University of Toronto is named 2008 Coach of the Year. King led the Blues to a 3-2 winning season for a third consecutive year.

The undefeated Western Mustangs (5-0) who look for their fourth consecutive provincial title swept the womens major awards. Alex Bruce (Toronto, ON) has been honoured as the leagues rookie of the year.

Also from the Mustangs, Jennifer Lam (Toronto, ON) is named Most Valuable Player. This is Lams fifth MVP honour. In 2003 she was given both the rookie of the year award and named league MVP. Lam captured the title for 4 consecutive years (2003-06).

Joining Bruce and Lam as all-stars from Western is teammate Pauline Sceviour (Calgary, AB). Shilin Cheung (Hong Kong, China), Caroline Cheung (Toronto, ON) and Melissa Hill (Oakville, ON) from the University of Toronto tie the Mustangs for most honours with three. The McMaster Marauders give the nod to Jamie Williams (Mississauga, ON). Waterloos sole recipient, Amanda Carruthers (Mississauga, ON) rounds out the list of womens badminton all-stars.

The Waterloo Warriors sweep the mens major awards. Andrew Tai Pow (Toronto, Ont.) is named 2008 Most Valuable Player. Last years rookie of the year shone again for the Warriors as the leagues top player.

Fellow Warrior Evan McDonald (Brantford, ON) in honoured as Rookie of the Year. MacDonald helped the Warriors advance to a 4-1 season, good for second in the league.

Joining Tai Pow and McDonald on the male all-star list is teammate Charles Pyne (Toronto, ON). The Western Mustangs give the nod to Ross Golding (Toronto, ON) and Scott Bennington (Oshawa, ON). The University of Toronto also adds two to the list with Andy Lam (Hong Kong, China) and Jesse Assing (Bethany, ON). Rounding off the list is Sen Hoong Phang (Thornhill, ON) from the McMaster Marauders.

OUA BADMINTON MAJOR AWARD WINNERS AND ALL-STARS

Coach of the Year Wayne King (Toronto)

2008 OUA Womens Major Award Winners
Rookie of the Year Alex Bruce (Western)
Most Valuable Player Jennifer Lam (Western)

2008 OUA Womens All-Stars
Jennifer Lam (Western)
Shilin Cheung (Toronto)
Amanda Carruthers (Waterloo)
Alex Bruce (Western)
Caroline Cheung (Toronto)
Melissa Hill (Toronto)
Pauline Sceviour (Western)
Jamie Williams (McMaster)

2008 Mens Major Award Winners
Rookie of the Year Evan MacDonald (Waterloo)
Most Valuable Player Andrew Tai Pow (Waterloo)

2008 OUA Mens All-Stars
Ross Golding (Western)
Andrew Tai Pow (Waterloo)
Charles Pyne (Waterloo)
Andy Lam (Toronto)
Sen Hoong Phang (McMaster)
Jesse Assing (Toronto)
Evan MacDonald (Waterloo)
Scott Bennington (Western)

Source: Ontario University Athletics