Top Varsity Badminton Star Puts Team First After Big Win Over York Community

Zoey Tian was the center of attention, heading into Naperville Central’s match against York Community High School. However, after the narrow 8-7 victory, her focus was on the team.

Naperville Central won the match with five singles wins and three doubles wins. Zoey Tian led from the front, decisively winning her singles matches 21-9 and 21-12.

Even though she was the best player, Tian focused on how the whole team played, especially in doubles, where the combinations are still changing.

“In these beginning stages, we’re still kind of figuring out our doubles pairs, so that makes it a little hard,” Tian said. “But I’m proud that today we were able to win three out of our five doubles for sure.”

Zoey Tian also talked about her goals for the season, both for herself and for the team. “For myself, I hope to place top eight at [IHSA] state this year for the team,” Tian said. “I hope that we get third place at DVC, and I hope that we can qualify at least one other [player] for state.”

Coach Tamara Burke praised the team’s performance so far this season. “So far, we’ve had two dual meets, and we won both of those,” she said. “Then we had a tournament over the weekend, and we ended up getting third place out of eight teams.”

Burke is still hopeful about the future. “Looking forward to a good season and just watching the team develop. Then hopefully, [we’ll] do pretty well in the conference tournament and then in the postseason as well.”

Young Squad Builds Chemistry and Gains Momentum with Zoey Tian leading them

Naperville Central’s younger players are taking on important roles since there are no seniors on the team, and they are getting better with each game.

Freshman Eileen Zhang made an immediate impact by winning both her singles and doubles matches. Sophomores Emily He and Kavya Peter also added important points in doubles. Peter and junior Aditi Patel also stayed calm to win a tense 24-22 finish, showcasing the team’s resilience under pressure.

The team’s chemistry is starting to show through more than just individual wins. Players are quickly adapting, forming partnerships, and learning to trust each other on the court. This is important as they keep trying out different double combinations.

Their recent third-place finish at an invitational tournament has given them even more confidence, especially since they played against tough opponents. With back-to-back dual meet wins, Naperville Central is building early-season momentum.

The team is now looking forward to a quad meet at Wheaton Warrenville South, where they will compete against three other schools.