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.