De Anza's Liu shines in winning state singles badminton title

De Anza College's Alice Liu won the singles title at the California Community College Athletic Association Women's Badminton Championships on Saturday at Irvine Valley.

She was the best player all weekend long.

Liu went hard for the title after finishing third last season.

But this year's title is not all that defines the top badminton star in the state.

Liu is a key part of two student clubs on the De Anza campus and volunteers her time outside of school and sport.

She will also be recognized as the female scholar athlete of De Anza in the coming week.

And Liu is headed to the University of California, Berkeley next fall to study in cognitive science with an eye toward working in computer science in the future.

She does all of that with a continued smile on her face while playing the sport she grew up with.

"Alice just enjoys the game," De Anza coach Mark Landefeld said. "And she plays a lot. She probably has more experience than anyone here. But you can tell how much she loves badminton in the way she plays. She really has fun out there."

Liu captured four straight matches over two days to take the singles title. She won each of those matches in straight games.

In her toughest victory of the event, she beat Pasadena City's Rebecca Tzou, 21-13, 21-18, for the title.

Liu trailed in the second game, but battled back for the win.

"I started playing badminton when I was (age) 6 and I got really serious about it around 13," Liu said. "Winning this title means a lot to me. I finally got the gold. It was my year."

Liu also finished as the runner-up in the doubles event. And Liu and her De Anza teammates took second place in the state after losing a tough team final, 11-10, on Thursday to San Diego City.

Tzou and Zin Win Maw of Pasadena City earned the doubles title on Saturday in a hard-fought, 21-18, 21-19 victory over Liu and teammate Megan Hsiao.

Tzou and Maw didn't drop a game in winning four-straight matches.

In the consolation events, MJ Phan of Skyline beat Melody Zhou of Foothill, 15-21, 21-9, 21-11, in singles and the team of Ashley Khor and Khanh Dao of San Diego Mesa defeated Jenny Vo and Jing Mi of Grossmont, 21-18, 19-21, 21-7.

Championship Singles Final

Alice Liu (De Anza) def. Rebecca Tzou (Pasadena City), 21-13, 21-18

Consolation Singles Final

MJ Phan (Skyline) def. Melody Zhou (Foothill), 15-21, 21-9, 21-11

Championship Doubles Final

Rebecca Tzou/Zin Win Maw (Pasadena City) def. Alice Liu/Megan Hsiao (De Anza), 21-18, 21-19

Consolation Doubles Final

Ashley Khor/Khanh Dao (San Diego Mesa) def. Jenny Vo/Jing Mi (Grossmont), 21-18, 19-21, 21-7

Complete scores and results can be found in the brackets below.

Singles Brackets [Championship][Consolation]

Doubles Brackets [Championship][Consolation]