Shirley’s reigns supreme anew

Shirley’s Badminton Club’s Lance Gallardo goes for a baseline return during his and Andreau Galvez’s men’s doubles A game against Taga Badminton Club’s Janelle Pangilinan and Daniel Macario in the IT&E Badminton Team Tournament last Saturday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

It’s back-to-back for Shirley’s Badminton Club as the group topped the IT&E Badminton Team Tournament held over the weekend at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Shirley’s, which ruled Northern Marianas Badminton Association’s season-opening event—the TanHoldings Team Tournament—lorded it over anew in the five-squad competition after beating three teams. Shirley’s defeated United Badminton Club, 14-4, and Community Badminton Club, 13-5, last Friday, and also outclassed Taga Badminton Club last Saturday, 14-4. Adding its 9-9 results against Golden Racquets, Shirley’s Badminton Club collected 50 points to prevail over the former (39), Taga (39), UBC (27), and CBC (25). Teams received 3 points for a match won in two games and 2 points for a three-game victory.

Sung Chul Kim and Sefric Veloria handed Shirley’s its first victory in last weekend’s event when they swept Paulo Quidato and Kevin Barros in the men’s C doubles, 21-10, 21-15. Shirley’s won the four other pairings with Alvin Alvarez and Patrick Fielded thwarting Thomas Lim and Perry Li in the men’s B doubles, 21-13, 21-19; Hiroko Tajima and Kazuko Sodheim winning over April Rio and Elna Curate in the women’s BC doubles, 17-21, 21-15, 21-13; Lance Gallardo and Hajin Oh beating John Oh and Joseph Torres in the men’s AB doubles, 14-21, 21-16, 21-20; and Andreau Galvez and Miles Guerrero easing past Ezekiel Macario and Loida Ito, 21-10, 21-14. Monique Mascarinas and Sophia Quinto gave UBC its lone victory in the pairing when they slipped past Gigi Zapanta and Keiko Ojima in the women’s C doubles, 16-21, 21-14, 21-8.

Shirley’s Badminton Club’s Angie Ito receives a serve during her and Miles Guerrero’s women’s doubles B game against Taga Badminton Club’s Shirley Kim and Windy Fernandez in the IT&E Badminton Team Tournament last Saturday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Shirley’s also won five of the six matches in their duel against CBC last Friday with Galvez drawing first blood following a 21-9, 17-21, 21-9 triumph over Ferdie Arago in the men’s A singles. Oh and Gallardo also took three sets to edge Jeffrey De Silva and Nate Guerrero in the men’s AB doubles, 17-21, 21-13, 21-19, while the pairings of Tajima and Sodheim, Veloria and Ian Lubao, and Fieldad and Alvarez swept their respective foes. Ella Serrano and Lucelle Lampera prevented Shirley’s from winning all seven matches as they prevailed against Zapanta and Miles Guerrero in the women’s B doubles, 21-5, 21-13.

For its penultimate assignment, Shirley’s had another easy win over Taga Badminton Club to boost its bid for back-to-back titles. The duos of Tajima and Sodheim and Gallardo and Galvez needed three games to pull of victories in the women’s C doubles and men’s A doubles, respectively, while Angie Ito and Miles Guerrero, Fieldad and Alvarez, and Oh and Ojima notched straight set wins. Irish Pagarao and William Liang put Taga on the win column after outlasting Veloria and Zapanta, 21-16, 19-21, 21-16.

For its final game, Shirley’s had some anxious moments when it dropped its first two matches against the Golden Racquets. The eventual champion, however, fought back and prevailed in three of the last four games to gain enough points to top the five-team field. Galvez and Gallardo, Sodheim and Zapanta, and Oh and Fieldad delivered the needed wins for Shirley’s. Gallardo and Galvez topped Jordan Pangilinan and Alex Nguyen in the men’s A doubles, 21-19, 21-12; Sodheim and Zapanta beat Anneth Ta and Patricia Surima in the women’s BC doubles, 21-14, 19-21, 21-13; and Fieldad and Oh swept Jojo Savaellano and Eric Pena, 21-11, 21-14.