Guintu-Sook vs Diola-Choi in finals

 Dick Guintu and On In Sook and Mario Diola and Hannah Choi swept their respective pool games over the weekend to arrange a title showdown in the mixed doubles 40-and-above division of the 2011 Shirley’s Badminton Classic.

The pair of Guintu and Sook was in Pool A and finished the eight-team group with a 7-0 record, winning three games from Friday to Sunday at the TSL Sports Complex. The duo first beat Edwin Montoya and Cheng Saturno and Puy Macario and Annette Ta last Friday and then downed Gigi Zapanta and Jerry Hibi last Sunday to have an undefeated record and clinch a finals berth. Competition rules gave automatic finals ticket to pairs with perfect records in the round-robin elimination round.

Guintu and Sook recorded their first four wins over Gary Bandoja and Kim Boranah, Lito Mendoza and Anna Alvarez, Jojo Savellano and June Padua, and Oh Imbog and Shirley Kim.

Three pairs finished second behind Guintu and Sook, as Bandoja and Boranah, Mendoza and Alvarez, and Hibi and Zapanta posted similar 5-2 records.

In Pool B, Diola and Choi were alone at the top spot with a perfect 7-0 record. The Diola and Choi tandem secured an unbeaten slate and the second and final championship seat after prevailing over Jerry Tan and Loyda Ito (2-5) and Cristy Villaflor and Joel Ortega (2-5) last Saturday.

Diola and Choi beat Robert Reyes and Elma Labuson (6-1) and Vic Reyes and Annarose Omori (5-2) for the finals berth. Other pairs entered in the mixed doubles 40-and-above division were Saul Gargallo and Marlene Peraja (4-3), Roger Vales and Babes Cielo (4-3), and Alvin Alvarez and Emily Vargas (0-7).

Meanwhile, in the centerpiece mixed doubles A, there will be a playoff match for the fourth and last semis seat between the tandems of Hapi Gabriel and Malou Malasarte and Gerry Hibi and Annarose Omori. The two pairs finished round-robin play with identical 3-4 records and the winner of the do-or-die game tonight will join Guintu and Choi, Macoi Aguda and Peraja, and Ferdie Arago and Lanie Bartolome in the semis.

In the semifinals, four pairs will battle for only one finals ticket, as Andrew Galvez and Angie Ito had already claimed the first finals slot. Galvez and Ito gained an outright championship berth after sweeping their elimination games.

Other pairs who joined the mixed doubles A division, but failed to advance were Diola and Toshiko Obata (0-7) and Montoya and Cheng Saturno (1-6).

Meanwhile, results and standings of other divisions will be published in Saipan Tribune’s Thursday edition.