Choi clinches women’s A singles crown

Hannah Choi was unscathed in the 2011 IT&E Singles/Doubles Badminton Tournament and went on to claim the women’s A singles championships at the conclusion of the month-long competition last Sunday at the TSL Sports Complex.

Choi swept the round-robin elimination with a perfect 6-0 record to notch the first finals berth in the women’s A singles. In the championship match, Choi was pitted against Angie Ito, who finished second in the field with a 4-2 card. The Korean player went on to complete a clean mark in the IT&E-sponsored tournament after a straight set win over Ito, 21-12, 22-20.

Three other singles title games were played Sunday night with Luis Camacho, Rodwealth Espana, and Andrew Galvez prevailing in their separate championship matches.

Camacho won in the men’s C singles finals against Jerome Malasarte, 22-20, 21-18. Camacho also came off a straight set semis win over Mahesh Balakrishnan, 21-12, 21-12, to set up a title duel against Malasarte, who topped Dick Kho in three sets in the other semis pairing, 22-24, 21-19, 21-19.

In the men’s B2 singles finale, Espana needed three sets to thwart Vic Regis. Espana dropped the opening set, 20-22, but still secured the championship after sweeping the last two sets, 21-11, 21-16. Regis advanced to the finals after beating Chris Hilario, 21-19, 21-17, while Espana edged fellow youth player Ezekiel Macario in the other semis tiff, 21-17, 18-21, 22-20.

In the men’s A singles finals, Galvez stunned the then undefeated Dick Guintu, 21-18, 21-18. Before the title match, Guintu swept his elimination round assignments and then extended his streak to five after downing Mario Diola in the semifinals, 21-13, 21-11.

Galvez had a tougher semis match, as he went the distance before ousting Ferdie Arago, 21-23, 21-14, 21-14. Galvez finished second to Guintu in the elimination round, as the former posted a 3-1 mark.

Besides the four singles championship games, three doubles title matches were also played in the last day of the Northern Marianas Badminton Association-sanctioned tournaments.

In the men’s B doubles, the pair of Sam Jones and Joseph Santos swept Noli Santos and Regis, 21-19, 22-20. The duo of Elna Curate and Rose Lazaro also took only two sets to win the women’s C doubles crown against the tandem of Windy Fernandez and Cris Obaldo, 21-13, 24-22. In the women’s B doubles, the finals was stretched to three sets with Marylyn Montano and June Padua slipping past sisters Lani Bartolome and Lot Abuel, 21-14, 19-21, 21-16.

At the end of the tournament, NMBA recognized the Top 4 finishers in each division with no less than Oceania Badminton regional development manager Nadia Bleaken handing medals to winners.