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3 pairs gain semis seats at Shirley’s Classic
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Posted on Sep 19 2011
Three pairs are already assured of semis tickets in the mixed doubles AA division of the 2011 Shirley’s Badminton Classic after Week 3 of the competition at the TSL Sports Complex.
The list includes the tandems of Angie Ito and Andrew Galvez, Dick Guintu and Hannah Choi, and Ferdie Arago and Lani Bartolome. Ito and Galvez currently lead the eight-team field with their unbeaten 6-0 record. The pacesetters notched two wins in Week 3 and are a win away from sweeping the round-robin elimination.
Galvez and Ito’s last match in their group will be against Hapi Gabriel and Malou Malasarte tomorrow night. A win will give the leaders the automatic finals berth, while a loss will still put them in the No. 1 seeding in the playoffs. Only the Top 4 teams will advance to the next round.
Guintu and Choi joined Galvez and Ito in the playoffs with the former holding a 4-1 record with two games left. Arago and Bartolome hold a 4-2 card to notch the third semis berth. Guintu and Choi’s last two matches will be against Marlene Peraja and Macoi Aguda and Jerry Hibi and Annarose Omori. Arago and Bartolome will also challenge Peraja and Aguda in their last match.
Aguda and Peraja (2-2), Hibi and Omori (3-3), and Gabriel and Malasarte (2-3) will battle for the last semis berth this weekend. Mario Diola and Toshiko Obata (0-6) and Edwin Montoya and Cheng Saturno (1-6) are already eliminated.
In the mixed doubles lower A, only Gary Bandoja and Choi are assured of a semis spot. The duo owns a perfect 5-0 record with three games left in the nine-team field. A sweep of the round-robin competition will also give Bandoja and Choi an outright finals berth.
Three other teams have strong chances of making the semis cast. They are Malasarte and Robert Reyes (4-1) and Arago and Annette Quiambao and Guintu and Obata, who hold similar 3-1 slates. Galvez and Merlie Tolentino and Rodwealth Espana and Angie Ito are still in contention with their identical 3-3 cards.
Results of standings of the mixed doubles 40-and-above, BB, and CC divisions will be published in Saipan Tribune’s Wednesday issue.
