Close fight in Sun Palace tourney

Team Pink’s Daniel Macario returns to Team Red’s Andreau Galvez during their men’s A singles game in the Sun Palace tournament last week at the TSL Sports Complex. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Week 2 of the 2016 Sun Palace Badminton Team Tournament kicked off last Friday at the TSL Sports Complex with Team Black prevailing in a tightly fought duel against Team Pink, 16-14.

The opposing squads played the last five of their 10-match series with Team Pink getting three wins, but Team Black still emerged as the winner in the pairing based on points system. Three points are given to a team that wins after two games while 2 and 1 are awarded to winning and losing squads in an extended match.

Black got the first 6 points in last Friday’s pairing, thanks to Eydie Yu and Tim Montes’ victory via default over Jun Banadera and Taeho Kim in the men’s C singles and Loida Ito and Roxanne Soriano’s 21-18, 21-21-15 triumph over Cheng Saturno and Merlie Savellano in the women’s BC doubles.

After the back-to-back losses, Team Pink swept the last three to close the gap. Team Pink, which took the first two matches in Week 1 before giving up the last three, earned its third win in the pairing when Rodwealth Espana and Jojo Savellano downed George and Alvin Alvarez in the men’s B doubles, 22-20, 21-15. Merlie then gave Team Pink its fourth victory after she outclassed Myrtle Cascabel in the women’s C singles, 21-19, 21-11, while Daniel Macario completed the sweep following a 21-5, 21-18 triumph over Glen Bluutjens in the men’s A singles.

With its last three wins via straight games, Team Pink has gained 29 points (counting their 15 in their standoff against Team Red in the opening week). Team Pink was scheduled to face Team Blue last Saturday and Sunday for its third assignment and results will be reported later this week. Team Black, on the other hand, was paired against Team White in the last two days of Week 2.

Meanwhile, Team Red and Team Blue also played the continuation of their matchup last Friday. Team Red picked up where it left off, gaining three more division wins to take a 21-9 victory.

Ichiro and A.J. Ortega had a free win for Team Red last Friday after a no-show from Jun Kim and Park in the men’s C singles. Team Red’s two other victories last weekend were courtesy of Vilma Reyes and the pair of Patrick Fieldad and Mar Dela Cruz, who topped Roxe Lazaro in the women’s C singles, 21-6, 21-8, and Park and Jun in the men’s B singles, 21-17, 21-15, respectively.

In the two other matches last Friday, Lazaro and Anna Omori slipped past Miles Rodriguez and Rowena Sison in the women’s BC doubles, 11-21, 21-19, 21-11, while Deether Edralin also took three games to thwart Andreau Galvez in the men’s A singles, 21-12, 19-21, 21-7.

With Team Red done with its first two assignments, it has collected 36 points (15 in Week 1), while Blue has only 20 after adding the 11 it got against Team White (19) in the opening week. The Top 2 teams with the most points at the end of the round-robin tournament will battle for the championship, while the third and fourth placers with duel in the consolation match.