The following is being distributed at the request of Sport Newfoundland and Labrador:

Samantha Ralph Wins Double Bronze at National Badminton Championships

Twenty-year-old Samantha Ralph of Sandy Cove, NL, earned two bronze medals (women's singles, women's doubles) at the 2007 Yonex National Badminton Championships held in St. Albert, Alberta, February 1-3.

No stranger to bringing home medals from national badminton tournaments, Samantha Ralph is a former under 19 and under 23 national badminton champion, and has also competed at the World Junior Badminton Championships.

This is the first time an athlete from Newfoundland and Labrador has ever medaled at a national badminton championships, an accomplishment all the more impressive given that Samantha was nursing an injury this past fall, and just got back to her regular (24 hrs/week) training schedule in January.

Ms. Ralph left home to continue her badminton training during her last year of high school, and is currently training at the Atwater Club in Montreal, while attending Concordia University. She has also trained in Alberta.

For the next four weeks Ms. Ralph's focus will be the 2007 Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse, where she will compete as one of 10 members of the NL Badminton Team, coached by her father, Craig Ralph.

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Media contact:
Craig Ralph
Badminton NL Provincial Coach and Canada Winter Games Coach
709-677-2826
cralph@cdli.ca

2007 02 06                                   4:35 p.m.