Smithtown East's Nicole Clemans wins Suffolk badminton title

Nicole Clemans’ face had pure disbelief written all over it as the Smithtown East senior came to terms with what she had just achieved Wednesday at Half Hollow Hills East High School. And it’s not hard to understand why.

She won the first game, 21-16, against Ward Melville’s Zoe Xiao, the top seed and defending singles champion. But Clemans found herself trailing 12-4 in the second game against Xiao, who eliminated her a year earlier.

“I try to just stay confident,” Clemans said. “Last year I got upset, I cracked and let it mess with me. But this year I tried to just stay positive and stay in the point.”

Clemans went on to cement herself as the 2025 singles champion of Suffolk girls badminton, never holding a lead before winning 22-20. She rushed over to her teary-eyed mother, Janice Clemans, and her father, Will Clemans.

“They’ve never missed a match,” Clemans said. “They’ve put in as much effort as I have, so they’re right in there with me.”

Family had a special place in Wednesday’s tournament, with Half Hollow Hills’ Rajveer Gujral completing the three-peat at boys singles by defeating top-seeded Jake Lee of Commack, 21-8, 21-17. Gujral immediately turned and faced the crowd after slamming home the winner, fists clenched.

He was staring right at his brother, Jaiveer, who had graduated from Hills with two singles titles to his name.

“I was thinking about [surpassing Jaiveer] the whole time,” Gujral said. “[I told him] ‘I finally beat you in something.’ ”

It speaks to Gujral’s dominance and Lee’s ability that this was the first time Gujral had conceded more than 12 points in a single game throughout the tournament.

A fellow top seed in Central Islip’s Jearmi Rosario and Jennifer Arias became county champions at girls doubles, defeating Northport’s Erin Klein and Sophia Bettano, 21-15, 21-16. The pair noted how their bond grew stronger this spring compared to a year ago.

That culminated in bringing Central Islip its first individual title in both boys or girls badminton across its eight-year existence.

“It means a lot,” Rosario said. “Just the fact that we were the first ones to actually do it.”

“And it’s also our senior year,” Arias added. “So, we finished it out.”

Hills duo Eric Kim and Ryan Kim won the boys doubles championship, defeating teammates Daniel Lin and Jerry Lin, 21-18, 21-19. Eric Kim slammed down the winning point, giving the duo a title neither thought they’d be holding after entering the tournament as a 12-seed.

“I would say [it’s a surprise],” Ryan Kim said. “But we always believed in ourselves that we could get here.”