Two in a row for Regis and Saturno

Cheng Saturno stretches for the shuttlecock, while teammate Vic Regis looks back during their mixed doubles B game against Christy Villaflor and Celso Agui in the IT&E badminton tournament last Saturday at the TSL Sports Complex. (ROSELYN B. MONROYO)

7Vic Regis and Cheng Saturno bagged their second straight win in the mixed doubles B division of the 2014 IT&E Mixed Doubles and Singles Badminton Tournament after another sweep over their foes last Saturday night at the TSL Sports Complex.

Regis and Saturno, who made short work of Roger Vales and Heo In Souk, 21-2, 21-18, in the opening of the tournament last Friday, this time was paired against Celso Agui and Cristy Villaflor and cruised to a 21-11, 21-8, for a strong start in their division.

Three other mixed doubles B matches were played last Saturday with two of them going the distance. In the first game, the youthful pair of Deether Edralin and Havikka Farro slipped past veterans Joel Ortega and Loyda Ito, 21-14, 18-21, 21-18. In the second extended match, Oh Im Bog and Dianna Francisco bounced back from a first game loss to Edwin Montoya and Shirley Kim, 20-21, sweeping the last two, 21-10, 21-11, to steal the victory.

For the last mixed doubles B tiff of the night, Aries Cordero and Toshiko Obata coasted past A.J. Ortega and Elna Curate, 21-12, 21-12.
In other mixed doubles games, Hapi Gabriel and Windy Fernandez pulled off an upset over Andreau Galvez and Jen Savellano in the Class A, while the two Class C matches had mixed results, and the lone Class B game ended shortly.

Gabriel and Fernandez dropped the opening game, 15-21, but grabbed the win anyway after working out a 21-18, 21-16 victory over their favored opponents.

In the mixed doubles C, Eydie Uy and Merlie Savellano took the short route in defeating Sato San and Roxe Lazaro, 21-8, 21-10, while Marc Mora and Patricia Abantao needed three games to thwart the latter pair, 21-18, 17-21, 21-18. In the only mixed doubles B game played last Saturday, Kelvin Yong Son and his partner whipped Panapa Peteru and Emily Vargas, 21-4, 21-8.

Meanwhile, eighth singles games took place in Day 2 of the month-long competition supported by IT&E. In the lone men’s singles A match, Ezekiel Macario survived a challenge from Edralin, escaping with a 19-21, 21-19, 21-19 win, while in the men’s singles B, Son also bailed out of trouble, thwarting Jeff Riman, 21-7, 20-21, 21-19.

In the men’s singles C, youth player A.J. Ortega gave the returning Rick Brien a rude welcome, posting a 21-14, 21-19 win, while Tae Ho Kim also swept Tommy Kim, 21-16, 21-18. Patrick Fernandez and John Cano were also scheduled to play last Saturday, but a no-show from the latter gave the former the free win.

In the women’s singles C, Nicole Malasarte went 2-0, beating Abantao first, 21-9, 21-3, before recording another sweep against Rowena Sison, 21-11, 21-20. The two women’s singles B games also concluded early with Obata outclassing Merlie Tolentino, 21-14, 21-6, and Fernandez dominating Curate, 21-10, 21-15.