Rally Niagara Cup Tourney - Spring 2025

Mike Hacker
Apr 30
3 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

April 26th & 27th

Rally Niagara Badminton - Rally Niagara Cup Winners - Spring 2025

Rally Niagara hosted the semi-annual Rally Niagara Cup Open Badminton Tournament on Saturday & Sunday, April 26th/27th. 90 players / 45 teams participated from various locals in the Northeast that included Southern Ontario, Ohio, Pennslyvania, and various areas of NY state that included NYC, Binghamton, Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, and Western New York. The tournament featured 5 events with Men's and Women's singles play on Saturday morning followed by Mixed Doubles in the afternoon. On Sunday, Men's and Women's Doubles were played. The game play was intense with some very exciting moments. Many matches went the distance. Sandeep Yalamanchili, Wendy T., Dan Hacker, & Eric Hong led the charge for Rally Niagara securing 8.5 points to secure the Rally Niagara Cup (pictured above) for the 2nd straight tournament event. Niagara Falls Badminton Club, Rochester Institute of Technology, and the University of Buffalo all tied for 2nd place with 6 points each.

See results, scores, and photos shown below:

Men's Singles:

"A" division:

1st place - Mayuresh Janpandit (University of Buffalo) won his first men's singles "A" competition at the Rally Niagara Cup against a tough opponent from Erie, PA - Nathan Wongpakdee in straight games 21-15, 21-15. Men's A though a smaller field this time around features players from 4 different states / provinces - Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario.

"B" division:

1st place - Agastya Chowdhary (RIT) played a strong final against local favorite, Shahnoor Islam winning 21-14, 21-7. Shahnoor must have been a bit tired after his close semi-final over Sai Sri Yeswanth Boppana (University of Buffalo) 21-19, 22-20.

"C" division:

For the 2nd tournament in a row it was the battle of UB's finest in the finale. 1st place - Ankil Manukonda (University of Buffalo) won his 2nd tournament in a row at the C level with 21-17, 21-12 victor over Calvin Wong (University of Buffalo).

"D" division:

1st place - David Wang (Rally Niagara) proved to the world his toughness, grinding out a victory in the final vs. Grayson Gong (University of Rochester) 18-21, 21-17, 21-14. No excusesnext time for a movement up to the "C" level. :)

Women's Singles:

"A" division:

No Sarika G. or Emily B. this year. New folks were ready to rise to the occasion. 1st place - Holly Hunt (Niagara Fall Badminton Club) overcame the challenge from Rayla Kurosaki (RIT) 21-11, 21-8.

"B" division:

1st place - Wendy T. (Rally Niagara) used an aggressive play style and overcame the legend of Rochester, Shaw-Ree Chen (Rochester Badfans). 21-10, 21-14.

Men's Doubles:

"A" division:

You knew it was going to be a good finale. Dan & Eric (Rally Niagara) were vying to secure their first "A" 1st place finish, but had to make it through tough Canadian opponents. Aarush & San (ShuttlerZone) played with passion impressively winning a close 21-19, 21-19 match. Full video of match below.

Video of Men’s A Final

"B" division:

It was an all Bangladeshi final with Rayhan Chowdhury & Sheikh Taif (BD Badminton) taking on the NYC team of Sheikh Rubab & Abu Naim and it was a good one. Locals, Rayhan & Taif prevailed 21-18, 21-15 with an impressive attack style and great defense.

C" division:

Syracuse was once again represented in the "C" final after winning the Fall 2024 event, however they were to be denied this time. 1st place - Ankhil Manukonda & Sumanth Bijjam (University of Buffalo) win 21-18, 21-11 over Zhouhong Chi & Zijian He (Syracuse University).

D" division:

It was an all RIT final this season with Zifeng Li & Edison Chen (RIT) beating fellow students Jacky Huang & Alexander Oracle Leonhart (RIT) 21-15, 22-20.

Women's Doubles:

"A" division:

1st place - Teddy Guo & Wendy T. (University of Rochester, Rally Niagara) combined this year to prove an unstoppable force dropping only one single came in the tournament. They won against Amruta Gajanan Bhat & Sonal Shukla (University of Buffalo) in the finale 21-14, 21-11.

"B" division:

1st place - Rayla Kurosaki (RIT) & Tina Wu (University of Buffalo) formed another combined Rochester / Buffalo team and played their hearts out winning against Erika Huynh & Holly Hunt (Niagara Fall Badminton) 21-15, 11-21, 21-15.

Best Tournament Photo - Courtesy of Ian-Lee Bennett (photographer)

Mixed Doubles:

"A" division:

1st place - Sandeep Yalamanchili & Wendy T. (Rally Niagara) proved they were the best. It was a true battle of unbeaten teams as both came into the finale undefeated after going 5-0 in the round robin and winning their semi-final match after a 1st round bye. Sandeep & Wendy prevail 21-16, 21-13 over Niranjin Patankar & Marina Natsui (Binghamton).