Upset in women’s doubles A finals

The mother and daughter tandem of Loyda and Angie Ito stunned the favored duo of Hannah Choi and Kim Boranah in the women’s A division finals of the 2012 Tan Holdings Badminton Doubles Competition last Sunday at the TSL Sports Complex.

It took only two games for the Taga Badminton Club bets to beat the top-ranked Choi and Boranah in the winner-take-all finals, 21-15, 21-18. Loyda and Angie’s familiarity with each other’s game helped them upset the Saipan Badminton Club players, who teamed up for the first time. Choi has been playing in the A division for the past years and dominating her foes, while Boranah just moved up to the highest class this season and her nerves got the best of her, as she struggled in the all-important match.

Choi and Boranah won the top seeding in the playoffs after completing the elimination round with a 7-1 record. They then advanced to the finals after downing the Berks’ Blazers Lanie Bartolome and Lucelle Lampera, 21-19, 21-17.

The Itos were seeded second in the playoffs after earning a 5-2 record. Loyda and Angie absorbed their first loss in the tournament at the hands of Choi and Boranah and also bowed to Shirley’s Badminton Club’s Toshiko Obata and Annette Ta. Then in the semis, the newly crowned champions were paired against Golden Racquet’s Cheng Saturno and Anna Alvarez and won, 21-18, 18-21, 21-17, to get a chance to avenge their loss against Choi and Boranah.

In the battle for third place, Lampera and Bartolome prevailed over Saturno and Alvarez, 21-18, 15-21, 21-19.

In the men’s A doubles, Taga players were also successful as Andreau Galvez and Rodwealth Espana swept Shirley’s Sam Jones and Glenn Bultjens in the finals, 21-16, 21-11.

Espana and Galvez ruled the men’s A doubles with an unbeaten record. They topped Mario Diola and Dick Guintu in the semis, 21-18, 21-19, to march into the finals against Jones and Bultjens, who won over Ferdie Arago and Gerry Balarao in the other semis duel, 18-21, 21-17, 21-19. Arago and Balarao went on to complete the Top 3 in the men’s A division after slipping past Guintu and Diola in the consolation game, 21-16, 18-21, 21-19.

In the men’s B division, Jexler Caranto and Oh Im Bog were also undefeated en route to ruling the six-team field. They had a 5-0 record in the elimination, beat Lito Mendoza and Narlou Achas in the semis, and then thwarted Puy Macario and Chris Hilario in the finals, 21-5, 19-21, 21-11. Jerry Tan and Espana, who lost to Macario and Hilario in the semis, settled for third after a 21-16, 21-13 win over Mendoza and Achas.

In the women’s B division, Marylyn Montano and Cheng Saturno won the battle of unbeaten pairs, prevailing against Lee So Young and Heo In Sook, 21-14, 21-15. Both finalists finished the elimination round with a 4-0 record. Then in the semis, Saturno and Montano won over Obata and Elma Labuson, while Lee and Heo downed Alma Ortega and Boranah, who ended up in third place after a 16-21, 21-9, 21-15 victory over Labuson and Obata.