An Olympic gold medalist in men’s doubles and two-time world champion, Gunawan also captured the championship in the “A” men’s doubles with fellow SGVBC coach Agus Wijaya, who is a former coach for one of Denmark’s junior teams, against San Diego’s Kyle Jordan Emerick and Sarun Vivatpatanakul at 21-16, 21-11.

Sanctioned by USA Badminton (USA, the governing body for badminton in the US, the “A” division was participated by other badminton giants, such as 2005 world champion in men’s doubles and 2008 Olympian Howard Bach, who paired up with fellow Olympian Eva Lee. Bach and Lee, however, failed to make it to the finals after being stopped in the semis by Gunawan and Peng.

In the women’s doubles, Eva Lee, who is also listed as one of SGVBC’s coaches, paired up with Arcadia Badminton Club coach Ying (Ingrid) Chen to win the finals against US national players Kuei-Ya Chen and Jamie Subandhi at 21-17, 21-14.

Meanwhile, in the recreational division, PBCA players put up a good performance as several of them moved from the semi-finals to the finals, some winning the championship and runner up titles. Of note are PBCA Vice President Nenette Sapida and Director Virra Ratonel winning the “E” women’s doubles, members Erica Fung (winner in the “E+” mixed doubles with Johnson Kosgei), Titan Balandra (runner-up in the “C” mixed doubles with Maya Bernarte), Ketel Galang (runner-up in the “D” women’s doubles with Gaya Wadu), and Amiel Tingzon (runner-up in the “E” men’s singles).

PBCA director and vice president Virra Ratonel and Nenette Sapida, respectively, pose for their "E" women's doubles victory.

The following PBCA members also garnered titles: Nenette Sapida and Carolyn Hoefer (third place in the Senior women’s doubles), Sammy Ponnusamy (third place in the Senior 100+ men’s doubles), Jun Bautista/Kiril Benliro and Benjie Baladad/Allan Grimares (third place in the “E+” men’s doubles), Benjie Baladad/Allan Grimares (third place in the “E-“ men’s doubles), Kate Marcelo and Melanie Tabili (winner in the “E” women’s doubles consolation bracket), and Kate Marcelo (winner in the “E+” mixed doubles consolation bracket with TJ Galang).

Boasting a prize money of $4,000 for the “A” division, the Summer Bash tournament, which was held on August 12-14, was participated by more than 300 players from Southern California and Las Vegas.

It was a tense moment for the members of CAR Thunders as they prepared for the championship in the just concluded Is-Mashan team tournament. More than five months ago, the former Thunders team members took the champion’s trophy after beating the Visayas Express, which also reprised its role, during the Carlo’s Cup-LA 2011.

The pressure was on them to defend the team’s title, so team captain Francis Rivera had to come up with the best combination of players who will deliver the most points for the team in the relay championship match. And win they did, after stopping the Express at 101 points and kept scoring until 120 points.

Thunders started with a good showing by scoring more points over Express, but midway the Express overtook the Thunders and kept it at bay for more than 10 points. The Thunders, however, stood its ground when the youngster Patrick Fernandez, in tandem with Carolyn Hoefer, scored for the team points after points until finally catching up and overtaking the Express towards victory.

The Is-Mashan 2011 held August 27 at the Arcadia Badminton Club once again captured the excitement of PBCA members and guests and delivered tons of enjoyment as five teams, named after Philippine major geographical regions coupled with distinctive “monikers” (Luzon Aguilas, Visayas Express, Mindanao Robins, National Capital Region Sparrows and Cordillera Autonomous Region Thunders), engaged in competitive and friendly matches.

The teams, each made up of 22 adults and five kids, competed in five events divided into doubles, mixed, funky and a combination of them, which constituted the elimination round. The top two teams faced off in a relay match for the championship. At first, the Aguilas, considered to have the strongest complement of players, appeared headed to the championship as it garnered 22 points, next only to top scorer Thunders, which has 27 points.

The surprise of the day came when the Express clinched a victory in its final match against Aguilas on event 5, when Express stole the win from Aguilas. The win gave Express 22 points, which tied it to the Aguilas. But following the win-over-the-other rule, Express ranked higher, having won over Aguilas on game 5. The Express members, who had no inkling they will go to the finals, exploded in cheers after learning their good fortune.

The Sparrows, on the other hand, could have gone to the finals had it won a sixth match against Express on event 3, thereby getting a total of 22 points. This would have given Sparrows the chance to reclaim the crown it won in Is-Mashan 2010. Having beaten the Aguilas on event 2, they would have been favored by the win-over-the-other rule.

Like a bad spell it cannot break, the Robins failed yet again to get out of its bottom ranking. This has been the third time in a row it has suffered such fate. It hopes to break free from this setback come Carlo’s Cup in March next year.

The PBCA kids also had their share of fun as they also competed for their teams during the first part of the tournament. The Aguilas kids, composed of Lance Burce, Alex Go, Myron Felipe, Caitlyn Cawili and Joshua Artienda, won first and the Visayas kids, composed of Rainer Bautista, Eugene, Christopher, Kennan Morcilla and Gillian Bachinela, came in second place.

"A" Mixed Doubles Champions Jennifer Uy and Eric Go.

Filipinos in Southern California held their unique way of celebrating the nation’s 113^th year of independence by hosting a day-long badminton tournament on June 11^th at the San Gabriel Valley Badminton Club 2 in Pomona, California.

The tournament, which was organized by the Philippine Badminton Club of America (PBCA), was fittingly dubbed as “Kalayaan Cup” - kalayaan being the Filipino word for freedom or independence. The event took an even more nationalistic tone with the Honorable Mary Jo Bernardo-Aragon, Consul General of the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles, welcoming the participants and opening the first match with the ceremonial tossing of the shuttlecock.

“The Kalayaan Cup, which has traditionally been the last project of the outgoing PBCA president in cooperation with the incoming officers, is a sort of culminating event for our club and highlights our members’ fealty to our country,” according to outgoing PBCA president Jun Bautista. “It is our last hurrah, so to speak.”

The tournament took an exciting turn when the A division players started their matches. Former US international player Eric Go, who is also a Filipino, combined with former Philippine national player Jennifer Uy in the A mixed doubles event. Although this was his first tournament after a long hiatus, Go wowed the audience, especially the Filipino crowd, as he exhibited his superb court skills, complemented by Uy, that made them win the championship.

In the A men’s doubles category, visiting Scottish player Alistair Casey (rank number 94 in the world in men’s singles) paired with former English international player Peter Smith. Casey and Smith played a close three-game match against Las Vegas’s GJ Watts and Joe Phanpuchara for the semi-finals.


Alistair Casey of Scotland and Peter Smith of UK battling their way up to the championships.

Watts-Phanpuchara took the first game at 21-14, which was, however, met with a strong reprisal from Casey-Smith by finishing off game two with Watts-Phanpuchara scoring only 8. In the end, Casey-Smith managed to keep the Vegas boys at bay by taking the semis with a margin of 4 points.

But the English-Scottish tandem were defeated in a straight win during the finals at 21-18, 21-18 by the top San Diego team of Kyle Emerick and Sarun Vivatpatanakul, who four months ago have just emerged champions in the prestigious Dave Freeman Open against one of SGVBC’s star coaches Agus Wijaya and well-known Nor-Cal player Kowi Chandra.

In the lower divisions, once again PBCA players proved their dominance by taking the champion’s title in four events and runner-up title in six events. Kiril Benliro and Lonie Galarpe were champions in the C men’s doubles, Patrick Fernandez and Jonah Perea in the D men’s doubles, Gerry Perea in the E men’s doubles, and Henry Cawili and Alexandra Go in the D mixed doubles.

236 players, more than half of which were Filipinos, participated and vied for the coveted champion’s title in various divisions: from the novice to A level. PBCA is proud to be one of few tournament organizers where low level players get the real chance of competing in a big tournament.

Forty one female badminton players clashed May 14^th in the second all-women’s tournament dubbed as “Divadminton Power,” which was held at the Arcadia Badminton Club.

The players were divided into novice, intermediate and advance divisions. A modified 21-rally point system of scoring, wherein there are no deuces and the third game is only up to 15 points, made the matches even more intense as competing teams vied for the coveted champion’s trophy.

Novice division champs Chris Lopez and Ina Gonzalez.

In the novice division, Chris Lopez and Ina Gonzalez faced off with fellow PBCAyans Rachel Perea and Mabel Villanueva in a tense finals match. Chris and Ina led the first game by two points. In game two, Rachel and Mabel fought harder by making the match even at 20-all. Ultimately, however, the match was decided in favor of Chris and Ina when Rachel’s attempted flick serve got caught in the net.

Partners Milex Dumale and Lizza Mendoza of LA Valley dominated the intermediate division by also winning a straight victory against Nenette Sapida (PBCA) and Bing Manhilot (Woodshots) at a score of 21-19, 21-13, after beating PBCAyans Virra Ratonel and Grace Bachinela in a three-team single round robin finals.

The advance division also had its share of disappointment for the runners-up when Lui Galang and Ketel Galang (PBCA/Woodshots) snatched the victory from Claire Del Rosario (PBCA) and Adel Ortega (Woodshost) in game three. From a miserly score of one point, the Galang sisters made a dramatic comeback by closing in on Claire and Adel’s gaping lead of eight points, until eventually overtaking them at 12 points to the finish.

The Divadminton Power is being held by PBCA every year to showcase women badminton players’ skills and growing number in this still male-dominated sport. “It’s about time we value the contribution of women in the growth of badminton, who made it more dynamic and interesting as a sport,” explains PBCA President Jun Bautista.