The Arizona Interscholastic Association likes to promote sportsmanship with its Victory With Honor approach.

You can probably add Defeat With Dignity and Grace.

An example of that surfaced in Saturday's third-place singles match in the Division I state badminton tournament at Glendale Independence High.

Phoenix Xavier Prep's Jessica Michael took a tumble while playing against Phoenix Sunnyslope's Jasmine Fuller.

Michael sprained an ankle and received treatment on the floor for several minutes. She was trailing by a considerable margin at the time, but elected to finish the match with her ankle taped. Fuller eventually won 11-5, 11-3.

Michael obviously was upset and in pain as she limped off the floor, but what she did took a large amount of courage. Not every player would have managed to continue.

It also showed that, despite some opinions to the contrary, badminton players are athletes, good athletes, and the sport takes strength, agility, endurance and toughness.

Michael and the other competitors in the tournament deserve a big round of applause.