SIS beats Hopwood 2 in interscholastic badminton

Saipan International School’s Julie Anne Chavez returns to Hopwood Middle School 2’s Ye Lynn Ha during their girls singles game in the TakeCare Interscholastic Badminton League last Saturday at the TSL Sports Complex.(ROSELYN B. MONROYO)

Saipan International School opened its campaign in the middle school division of the TakeCare Interscholastic Badminton League with a 9-6 victory over Hopwood Middle School 2 last Saturday at the TSL Sports Complex.

Julie Anne Chavez handed the Geckos a pair of wins to lead SIS’s close triumph over Hopwood 2. Chavez played in the girls singles and swept Ye Lynn Ha, 11-4, 11-4. She then partnered with Landon Pudney in the mixed doubles and they had similar straight game victory over Ha and Yong Jun Lin, 11-8, 11-10, for the Geckos second win.

For its third triumph, SIS banked on Jacky Lui in the boys singles play. Liu rallied past Lin as the former took the second and third games, 11-7, 11-6, after dropping the opener, 3-11.

In the other events, Hopwood 2 prevailed in the girls and boys doubles. Lin also played in the doubles and he and Zhi Xiang Jiang needed three games to thwart Peter White and Hunter DeRocher, 11-2, 7-11, 11-3. In the girls doubles, siblings Ye Sol and Ye Lynn Ha made short work of Lina Tsukagoshi and Aubrey White, 11-6, 11-5, to give Hopwood 2 three points. Three points are awarded to a team that wins in two games and two in a three-game match.

Meanwhile, Hopwood 2 battled back from its opening loss to SIS after topping Francisco M. Sablan Middle School, 11-4

Hopwood Middle School 2’s Ye Lynn Ha, right, hits back while her teammate Yong Jun Lin looks on during their mixed doubles match against Julie Chavez and Landon Pudney in the TakeCare Interscholastic Badminton League last Saturday at the TSL Sports Complex. (ROSELYN B. MONROYO)

The Hilitais took the victory after lording it over in the girls and boys singles and doubles events.

Lin dueled FMS’ Adbul Munim in the boys singles and pulled off an 11-6, 9-11, 11-7 win. In the girls singles, Ye Lynn Ha took only two games to dispatch Chrisha Marciano, 11-7, 11-3. Ye Lynn’s sister, Ye Sol and Maria Quidato were Hopwood 2’s betsn in the girls doubles and they outlasted Sisther Fred and Jaena Laniyo, 7-11, 11-5, 11-3.

The mixed doubles contest between FMS and Hopwood 2 was also decided in three games with the Napu Riders’ Wasee Anas and Shaina Malonzo slipping past Ye Lynn and Jiang, 11-8, 8-11, 11-10 for FMS’ lone victory in the pairing. In the boys doubles, Lin and Guan Jun Hao edged Anas and Munim, 11-10, 11-8.

With Hopwood 2 nearly sweeping FMS, it earned a 17-13 record in the team standings in Bracket A for second place behind Hopwood 1 (23-7). SIS holds a 14-16 win-loss mark, while FMS has an 8-22 card. Each team in Bracket A has one game left in the round-robin regular season. Bracket B matches, on the other hand, have yet to kick off and are scheduled to take place on Feb. 19 with the confirmed number of teams to be announced next week.