Pangilinan, Torres win badminton doubles

Jordan Pangilinan, left, returns as doubles partner Joseph Torres waits during the last set of their championship game in the open division men’s doubles of the 50th Tan Holdings Badminton Tournament last Sunday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (LEIGH GASES)

Over 140 participants from the CNMI and Guam joined the 50th Tan Holdings Badminton Tournament over a span of four days from last Thursday to Sunday, with Saipan’s Jordan Pangilinan and Joseph Torres claiming the open men’s doubles championship.

In a whirlwind three-set championship bout that prolonged the awarding ceremony late Sunday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium, CNMI National Badminton Team player Pangilinan and doubles partner Torres put everyone at the edge of their seats as they pried the win away from Andreau Galvez and Lance Gallardo.

The first set went to Galvez and Gallardo, 21-19, then Pangilinan and Torres came back in the second set for a 21-17 run. In the last set, Pangilinan and Torres had the upper hand and momentum swiftly made it a 20-10 game.

However, the tandem of Galvez and Gallardo did not give up without a fight and with a series of quick smashes aimed at the feet of Pangilinan and Torres, it caused them to fumble and make mistakes in their returns—prolonging the only 1-point more victory by another 10 minutes.

From a 10-point deficit, Galvez and Gallardo rose from the ashes and made it a 20-14 game. The short-and-tall duo shutout Pangilinan and Torres four more times for a 20-18 game. When it seemed like they would pull the upset and grab the win from their grasp, in just a 10-second rally, Torres made the winning smash to Gallardo—who missed for the 21-18 victory.

Torres, a 28-year-old, who was clearly fatigued from the fight to the finish said that they have challenged Galvez and Gallardo previously, so it was like deja vu for them. When asked what happened at the end—with just one point away from the win and the other team catching up, he said it was “overconfidence. But it’s okay, we still got it.”
The 26-year-old Pangilinan said that he made quite a few mistakes in the last set. “It was a good game. I kept making errors and just tried to get back,” he said. “It was really hard as I was out for a month and trying to get back, it was not an easy task.”

He added that the final point was challenging to get as the other team were trying their best too. “They played really hard and they did have that good fighting spirit. Every point matters.”
They both thanked Tan Holdings, including Jordan’s sister Janelle Pangilinan, Christy Villaflor, the high school students