Mixed results in men’s C singles

John Cano leans back for a return to Aries Cordero during their men’s B singles game in the 2014 Shirley’s Badminton Classic last Saturday at the TSL Sports Complex. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

In the first match, Leo Su took the long route to victory against Jerome Malasarte, 21-7, 20-21, 21-14,while John Cano needed only two games to waltz past Ariel Jinang, 21-12, 21-10, last weekend at the TSL Sports Complex.

Two other men’s C singles matches were scheduled last Friday in Week 2 of the Shirley’s Coffee Shop-backed tournament. The third one resulted in a default win for Jeremy Montenejo against the injured Allan Lee, while the fourth was an extended match between Panapa Peteru and Raphael Zapanta. Peteru prevailed in the opener, 21-19, but failed to close out the match early with Zapanta bouncing back in the second game, 21-12. The deciding third game was a back-and-forth affair with Peteru escaping with a 21-20 victory. The men’s C singles has 17 players, the most in the tournament, and is divided into four pools with the Top 2 players in each group advancing to the playoffs.

In other singles pairings, Ferdie Arago outclassed Glenn Bluutjens in three games, while Hannah Choi and Dianne Francisco swept their respective foes. Arago dropped the opening game in the men’s A singles, 19-21, but still got the victory after winning the last two, 21-11, 21-19. In the women’s A singles, Choi eased her way to a 21-6, 21-11 victory over Malou Malasarte, while in the women’s B singles, Francisco dominated Malou’s daughter Nicole, 21-18, 21-18. The other women’s B singles match last Friday resulted to a free win for Rowena Sison after a no-show from Toshiko Obata.

In the men’s doubles, Class B, Pastor Pang and Oh Im Bog and Jojo Savellano and Noli Santos recorded sweeps, while A.J. Ortega and Celso Agui took the victory after three games. Pang and Oh topped Savellano and Santos, 21-10, 21-16, while the latter pair recovered with a 21-16, 21-20 win over Jerry Tan and Zapanta. Ortega and Agui fell to Ariel Mariano and Peteru in the opening game, 19-21, but stole the win after prevailing in the last two, 21-15, 21-18.

Mariano also played in the over 35 age group doubles and this time won, teaming up with Ray Musada in downing Agui and Sato San, 21-11, 21-19.

In the women’s doubles, two of the three Class B matches ended after three games. Nicole Malasarte and Patricia Abantao slipped past Annette Ta and Elma Labuson, 20-21, 21-13, 21-9, while Cheng Saturno and Lucella Lampera outlasted Loyda Ito and Shirley Kim, 15-21, 21-15, 21-15. In the third women’s C doubles, Loyda Ito partnered with Gigi Zapanta to beat Merlie Tolentino and Emily Vargas, 21-15, 21-17. In the lone women’s C doubles, Vilma Reyes and Baby Banadera defeated Roxe Lazaro and Lani Santos, 21-10, 21-13.