HaNeul Jeong-McDonell, with one final push, is the Metro Badminton Player of the Year

HaNeul Jeong-McDonell watched as others celebrated championships.

She finished second in the individual badminton state tournament last year. She lost the St. Paul City Conference individual final this year. She and her St. Paul Highland Park teammates finished fourth in the team tournament this year.

Those missed opportunities drove the senior. She seized her last chance and won the individual title in the state tournament at Edina High School, and that helped her become the Star Tribune Metro Badminton Player of the Year for 2022.

"We finished fourth — which is still pretty good overall, but it is still fourth," Jeong-McDonell said. "I was hungry to get first and really represent myself as an individual player."

Jeong-McDonell defeated Cinderella Nwe of St. Paul Washington 21-12, 21-14 in the championship match. After falling to Nwe in the conference tournament, Jeong-McDonell knew what she would face at the state tournament: high, arching serves landing on the edges of the court.

"Her serves were extraordinarily high and accurate. They landed just on the line. It was tricky to judge whether I should hit it or not, which cost me a lot of points," Jeong-McDonell said. "After she beat me in that match, all of my other opponents tried to serve high to me as well. That actually ended up benefiting me in the long run.

"I just knew to anticipate those high serves better. [Coach Kathleen Kramer] and I practiced different ways to receive and return the high serves."

Jeong-McDonell exits high school as an individual champion with a team mind-set.

"The team environment just added a lot of fun and positive memories and everything," she said. "I'm really grateful to have a good team that gets along socially as well."