B.C. Games silver for Oak Bay badminton player

Riley Torstensen and Justin Siu scored silver in the boys doubles badminton during the BC Winter Games in Kamloops last weekend.

Zone 6, made up of players from Port Alberni, Nanaimo, Victoria and Torstenson from Oak Bay, earned a bronze medal in team competition.

Vancouver Island, or Zone 6, earned a total of 10 gold, 10 silver and 15 bronze. The top scoring region was Vancouver-Coastal with 42 gold, 42 silver, 43 bronze.

After four days of exciting action, the 2018 BC Winter Games wrapped up Sunday in Kamloops. More than 1,200 athletes competed in 19 sports at venues throughout Kamloops and Sun Peaks.

“How many people does it take to put on a BC Winter Games? It takes everybody, it takes a community. This is a wonderful way to build community in this great province of B.C. and Kamloops has a wonderful reputation of tremendous engaged volunteers,” said Lieutenant Governor Judith Guichon during the closing ceremony. “These young athletes will go back to their communities, having made new friends, seeing a new area of the province, and many will go home with medals. The duration of the contest is but a few minutes while the training takes weeks of years of hard work and exercise and self discipline. The applause soon dies away; the prize is left behind, but it is the character you build that will be yours forever. You are all champions.”

The BC Games finished at the same time as the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang where 16 BC Games alumni were part of Team Canada including gold medalists Justin Kripps (Bobsleigh) and Kelsey Serwa (Ski Cross). The BC Games are the starting point for many athletes as they pursue their goals and dreams of one day representing Canada on the world stage.

“The athletes will leave the BC Games with new friendships, with successes, and with a new a determination to chase a dream that is truly within their grasp,” said Kelly Mann, President and CEO of the BC Games Society. “Sport builds so much more in us than just physical well being. It rounds us out as people; it helps us build friendships and memories that last a lifetime.”

The B.C. Games flag was passed to Jennifer Woike, president of the Cowichan 2018 BC Summer Games set for July 19-22.