Pedrosa rips foe, battles Morada for U-19 crown
NATIONAL pool members Alvin Morada and Roslee Pedrosa toppled their respective rivals in contrasting fashions to seal a showdown for the boys’ Under-19 singles crown in the MVP Sports FoundationPhilippine Badminton Ranking System (PBaRS) in San Fernando, Pampanga yesterday.
Bianca Carlos and Gelita Castilo, teammates at Golden Shuttle Foundation but fierce rivals on the court, renew their rivalry in the centerpiece women’s Open singles as they hurdled their semifinal matches in the event sponsored by MVP Sports Foundation.
Carlos finally found a real challenge after a series of lopsided victories, holding off Nikki Servando, 21-19, 19-21, 21-10, to set up a title clash with Castilo, who overpowered Jen Cayetano, 21-7, 21-10.
The ninth-ranked Morada bounced back from a second set setback to stop Keeyan Gabuelo’s giant-killing spree, 21-12, 15-21, 21-12, while Pedrosa whisked off Bryan Garrido, 21-12, 21-12, in just 25 minutes in one of the early semifinal matches at Excel Badminton Center.
Pedrosa earlier eased out No. 16 Jan Sinfuego and No. 6 Christian Cuyno before mastering 10th ranked Joshua Monterubio, 21-17, 21-19, in the quarterfinal round of the event sanctioned by the Philippine Badminton Association headed by Vice President Jejomar Binay with sportsman Manny V. Pangilinan as chair and Rep. Albee Benitez as sec-gen.
Jourelle Antonio of City Shuttle-JB foiled Kyle Legaspi, 21-18, 22-20, to reach the finals of the boys’ Under-15 class. He will battle Corpus Christi’s Daniel Pantanosas, who bested John Matthew Bernardo, 2115, 20-22, 21-4.