Lai Named OCAA Men's Player of the Year

TORONTO - Shruti Joshi of Humber Polytechnic and Bosco Lai of Seneca Polytechnic are the 2025-26 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Badminton Players of the Year.

Joshi (Vadodara, India), a second-year student-athlete, has shown amazing growth this season after coming off a Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) national gold medal last season. Joshi showed dominance at both invitationals at the beginning of the year, winning women’s singles and doubles at Fanshawe while being mixed doubles runner-up, and a semi-finalist in women’s singles and doubles at Seneca.

Lai (North York), a first-year student-athlete, has distinguished himself as an exceptional member of the Seneca Sting, and has been a valuable addition to the team. Regardless of skill level or competitive intensity, Lai consistently demonstrates a high level of commitment, focus, and work ethic in every drill and training environment. Overall Lai has a record of 37-6-7 in invitational competition this season.

Chloe Rowe of Humber is the OCAA Coach of the Year. The former four-time provincial women’s doubles gold medalist has made a successful transition into coaching. With one of the strongest OCAA teams, Rowe has multiple athletes competing on the world stage representing Canada. Despite not having all these student-athletes at every college tournament, Humber still showed dominance on the OCAA level.

OCAA All-Stars will be determined following the 2026 OCAA Badminton Championships being hosted by Seneca in King City, Ont., from Feb. 20-21.

2025-26 OCAA BADMINTON AWARDS

OCAA Men's Badminton Player of the Year
Bosco Lai, Seneca

OCAA Women's Badminton Player of the Year
Shruti Joshi, Humber

OCAA Badminton Coach of the Year
Chloe Rowe, Humber

Source: OCAA Communications