Top seed Cordon upset by unranked Muramoto

Unranked Ryoma Muramoto of Japan eliminatesd top seed Kevin Cordon last night in the TakeCare Saipan International 2023 at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.(LEIGH GASES)

Top seed Kevin Cordon of Guatemala was eliminated by unranked Ryoma Muramoto of Japan on Day 3 of the TakeCare Saipan International 2023 last night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

After a thrilling and intense three sets, it was the end of the road for Cordon as he could not make it happen in the tiebreaker. 

Cordon had a 4-0 lead in the first set, but blew it as Muramoto came from behind to snatch it, 21-17. 

In the second set, Cordon had another wide lead up until the 10th point when Muramoto crept up after multiple mistakes by Cordon, for a close 11-10 game. 

Cordon put his smashes and kills into overdrive as he pushed for more points to ensure he won the second set and forced a tiebreaker. 

Cordon won a cliffhanger set as Muramoto was never too far behind. At 20-17 and when Cordon thought he had sealed the deal, he rushed his return and hit the net. It was a long rally until finally Muramoto tired out and Cordon won, 21-17. 

The winner-take-all third set began with Muramoto drawing first blood . Cordon didn’t let up easily and led 4-3. However, Muramoto gained the upper hand as he aimed his smashes at Cordon’s feet and took the lead, 5-4. 

Muramoto took this change of momentum into his favor and caused Cordon mistakes in his volleys at the net. Cordon was down, 8-12, after an outside serve and was stuck there as Muramoto overtook him, 8-13, 8-14, but finally gained a point after a well-placed return that just painted the inside line. But Muramoto’s speed and tactics to get Cordon to volley near the net paid off as he shut down Cordon, 21-12.  

In the other ranked matches of the day, No. 3 seed Su Li Yang overpowered Jia Wei Joel Koh, 21-6, 21-14.

Japan’s unranked Manami Suizu took down the No. 1 seed in women’s singles, Chinese-Taipei’s Sung Shuo Yun, in two sets, 21-19, 21-15.

Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki defeated No. 4 seed Lin Hsiang Ti of Chinese-Taipei, 21-17, 21-15

Liao Jhuo-Fu shut down No. 5 Jeon Hyeok Jin in three well-fought sets, 21-14, 4-21, 19-21.

Japan’s Kakeru Kumagai and An Sato defeated No. 4 Po Li-Wei and Chang Ching Hui, 13-21, 21-16, 21-16.

As for Team NMI, Ian Lubao and Leonard Manuel put up a valiant effort against Nge Joo Jie and Johann Prajogo, but lost 6-21, 4-21.

Andreau Galvez and Daniel Macario also lost to Lin Bing-Wei and Tseng Ping-Chiang, 7-21, 9-21. 

On the second day of games on Wednesday, Galvez, who advanced after the first day, lost to Chen Chi Ting, 5-21, 7-21. 

Paulo Quidato, who also advanced on the first day, was defeated by Yang Yang, 6-21, 8-21. 
The dynamic duo of Nathan Guerrero and Janelle Pangilinan took on Cheng-Han Tsai and Lee Yu Hsuan but lost, 8-21, 9-21.