Carlos, Pedrosa hit Bingo Open jackpots
BIANCA CARLOS and Ros Pedrosa turned their expected tight final round matches into a pair of romps as they shared the Open singles honors in the P1.5 million Bingo Bonanza National Open Badminton Tournament at SM Megamall on Sunday.
Carlos kept the momentum of her string of straight- set victories, including a 21- 15, 21- 10 triumph over Malvinne Ann Alcala in the semifinals, dethroning last year’s champion and top seed Sarah Joy Barredo, 21- 13, 21- 11, to bag the women’s singles diadem.
It was actually the top Ateneo bet’s second straight win over Barredo this year with the former also trouncing the latter in three in the FDG Cup finals last June.
Pedrosa, on the other hand, halted the unseeded Clarence Filart’s run of impressive victories as the third- ranked mainstay of PBA Smash Pilipinas came away with an emphatic 21- 11, 21- 14 victory to claim the men’s singles crown in the annual top- ranking tournament sponsored by Bingo Bonanza.
Carlos and Pedrosa each re- ceived P100,000.
Peter Magnaye and Indonesian Devi Permatasari also essayed a straight- set 21- 15, 21- 19 win over fellow PBA Smash Pilipinas stalwarts Ronel Estanislao and Keshya Hanadia, also of Indonesia, to nail the Open mixed doubles crown in 32 minutes Sunday crowd. Bracing for a fierce challenge, Carlos seized control early with her vast repertoire of shots, keeping Barredo on the defensive majority of the way. The former National Open champion scored on smashes and dropped shots while pouncing on her rival’s miscues to complete the 35- minute victory. Pedrosa proved more convincing, easing out Filart with before a big his power game en route to posting a 20- minute demolition of the Ateneo bet who stunned top seed Kevin Cudiamat in the quarterfinals and No. 6 Solomon Padiz Jr. in the Final Four of the event organized by EventKing Corp. and backed by official equipment Victor, exclusively distributed by PCOME Industrial Sales, Smash Pilipinas and the Philippine Olympic Committee.
Top seed Alyssa Leonardo and Thea Pomar, meanwhile, were still playing with the Hanadia and Permatasari upended the top- seeded pair of fellow PBA Smash mainstays Alyssa Leonardo and Thea Pomar, 21- 14, 21- 9, to snare the Open women’s doubles crown in the tournament sanctioned by the Philippine Badminton Association headed by president Jejomar Binay and sec- gen Rep. Albee Benitez. Magnaye is also bidding to become the lone “double” winner in the event in a tandem with Alvin Morada in their men’s Cayanan-Joper Escueta tandem.
The doubles winners also received P120,000 each.