The Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) Thunders roared its way to the championship to claim the top spot in the Carlo's Cup-LA held March 5 at the Arcadia Badminton Club in Arcadia, California.  

The Thunders clashed with the Visayas Express during the finals in a 130-point relay event.  The relay is a series of matches wherein players from the competing teams change partners as a match reaches 10 points, with the team first reaching 130 points winning the event.

The Express garnered a 7-point lead against the Thunders during the first 10 points, which was a B men's doubles match between Melchi Viado and Philips Jap of the Express and Jerome Ferido and Chino Castellano of Thunders.

But Express's winning streak ended soon as Thunders gradually caught up with the Express and finally overtook it on the sixth match.  Thunders' Allan Grimares and Jun Bañaga made a big leap by scoring a 9-point lead against Express's Thomas Gomez and Randy Wong on the sixth, upping Thunders' score from 50 points on the fifth match to 60 points on the sixth, as against Express's mere one point increment to 54 points on the sixth. 

Excitement built up on the 13th and final match when Express's Melchi and Philips reunited and faced Wowie Leoncio and Jerome of Thunders.  Philips and Melchi's strong tandem generated 19 points, but their valiant efforts still fell short as Wowie and Jerome maintained Thunders' lead until finally finishing off at 130 points, with Express ending up at 112 points.  

The Thunders made an interesting leap to victory as it was Express that ranked first among the five teams during the elimination rounds.  Express severely beat Thunders when the two met in the mixed doubles event at a score of 7-4. 

The other teams, in their order of ranking during the elimination, were Luzon Aguilas, National Capital Region (NCR) Sparrows and Mindanao Robins.  Each team consisted of 20 players.

The Carlo's Cup is PBCA's second team tournament, which is being held every year in honor of Carlo Castellano, brother of PBCA member Claire Del Rosario and a highly skilled badminton player in the Philippines who was murdered saving a friend's life.  The Philippine Air Force, where Carlo served and held the rank of captain, also hosted its Philippine version of Carlo's Cup on the same date.    

Shuttlers from the Philippine Badminton Club of America (PBCA) took home two major titles in the LA Valley Badminton Challenge held April 9 at the Agoura Hills/Calabassas Community Center in Los Angeles, CA.





Top:  Jun and Kirilz.  Bottom:  Thomas and Sanjay.

Partners Jun Bautista and Kirilz Benliro won in the C Men's Doubles division, while partners Sanjay Brahmi and Thomas Gomez won in the D Men's Doubles division.  

Meanwhile, in the C Mixed Doubles division, PBCA partners Leo Artienda and Nenette Sapida settled for the runner-up title when they faced Loureen Pasiliao and Joel Topacio in the finals.


Nenette and Leo.

PCBA shuttler Virra Ratonel, who partnered with Lena Zeng, won in the C Women's Doubles division.  Ria Pasiliao (Rakista and PBCA) won the D Mixed Doubles title with Hart Amante.

At the top level, partners Lia Alimagno and Titan Balandra (also PBCA members) were the runners-up in the A Mixed Doubles division, while Woodshots partners Jerome Ferido and Ketel Galang (who is also a PBCA member) were the winners.  Titan won in the A Men's Doubles division as well.   

Dubbed as "Edsa Challenge:  For Da Boys Only Fun Tournament," PBCA male members competed in intense doubles matches February 26, in celebration of the Edsa I People Power Revolution.



Some of the Edsa Challenge participants (from left): Orick, Dennis, Chito, Benjie, Ding, Noel, Leo, Brian, John, Herman, Allan, Roy, Gerry, Lonie & Jun.

Partners Roy Bachinela and Gerry Cruz emerged champions in the C division after beating partners Randy Wong and Marvin Solidum in a straight win. 

In the D division, partners John So and Brian Gonzales and partners Ding Sayson and Noel Pattugalan ended up in a tie by winning equivalent number of matches.  But So and Gonzales took the top title by having won the match when the two contenders faced off.   

The event was participated by 24 C level players and 10 D level players, or a total of 34 players.   

 

Couples slug it out in intense, but friendly, badminton matches during the "Valentine Challenge:  A Couples Tournament" held on February 12 at the Arcadia Badminton Club, as each team of couple aimed for the coveted trophy and dinner for two at the Red Lobster restaurant. 

The matches were hard fought as most of them concluded in three-setters.  Especially exciting were the matches with couple Chito and Lorna Viado who, despite their lower ranking among the other couples, put up a good fight and even managed to snag a victory against couple Tom Gomez and May Dela Cruz.  

Defending champions Roy and Grace Bachinela once again had a face-off with runners-up Jun and Ghale Bautista in the finals.  In the end, however, the Bachinela couple managed to keep their title as they finished off the match in a straight win.

PBCA members pose with 2005 World Champion and 2008 Olympian Howard Bach on the second day of the NBL State Playoffs January 15 at the Eastbay Badminton Association court in Emeryville, CA.  Three PBCA teams participated in the playoffs, with two of them winning the first and second runner-up titles in the D Division.

Indonesian-born Phillips Jap took home the champion's title in the boy's singles and boy's doubles events, both in the under-13 category,  during the just concluded USBDF Winter Junior International Championships held December 17-20 at the Orange County Badminton Club in Orange, California.

The 55th seed youngster, who trains under his father Andy Jap and Hock Lai Lee (USAB rank number four in men's singles),  beat top-seeded Vinson Chiu in the boy's singles at 21-17, 21-13. 

The two, however, worked together in the boy's doubles and practically demolished their opponents, seed number two Michael Chau and Richerd Chen, in a blistering match which lasted only 15 minutes at a score of 21-6,21-7.

But Chiu and his partner Micaela Lum claimed the championship in the mixed doubles event against Jap and his partner Krista Hsu.  At first Jap and Hsu were dealt a huge blow by scoring only nine.  The pair attempted a decider by catching up on game two, but Chiu and Lum kept them at bay by scoring a two-point lead.

(For the complete results go to tournament software)

 

Top-seeded Malvinne Ann Venice Alcala, fondly known to her family and friends as Poca, won the gold in girl's singles under 17 event during the Li-Ning Singapore Youth International badminton tournament held December 13-19 at the Yio Chu Kang Sports Hall in Singapore.

The 16-year old Filipina shuttler, who hails from Pasig City, cruised to the finals by besting three Indonesian and one Hong Kong players in straight games.  Alcala then faced seed number three Xiaoyu Liang of China in the finals, where she won the gold in another easy victory at a score of 21-15, 21-18.

The Li-Ning Singapore Youth International 2010 was organized by the Singapore Badminton Association and sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation, which was participated by hundreds of players from different countries in Asia.    

The much-awaited friendship games between PBCA and Las Vegas Badminton Club (LVBC), dubbed as “Sin City Challenge Friendship Games,”  concluded December 11 in Las Vegas, Nevada with tons of fun and friendly matches.

 

A contingent of 40 PBCA members and some guests descended from the city of angels  to fabulous Las Vegas to play friendly matches with LVBC players.  Although LVBC outclassed PBCA at a score of 33-09, the participants had fun by enjoying the games and meeting new friends. 

 

A total of 40 doubles and two singles matches were played for half day at the LVBC home court.  Exciting matches from the E to A divisions took place, as players displayed their court skills with passion and intensity. 

Special mention should be made to the following for garnering points for PBCA:  Joseph Langie, Peter Mendoza, Kyle Emerick, Dung Truong, Herman Morcilla, Ernie Santiago, Jazzy Ogbac, Virra Ratonel, Grace Bachinela, Nenette Sapida, Mimi Arrieta, Grace Mayuga,
Clemen Baladad, Dennis Mayuga and Jay Wong.

 

Of course the Las Vegas experience won’t be complete without the casino gambling, sumptuous buffets, partying and alcoholic beverages.  But then again, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

          Ghale and Clemen took 
      the women's doubles E title
     at the AHCCC Badminton Open

PBCA members claimed a major title and some minor ones during the Agoura Hills Calabasas Community Center (AHCCC) 2010 Winter Badminton Open held on December 4-5 at Calabasas, California.

Ghale Bautista and Clemen Baladad topped the women's doubles in the E division after defeating fellow PBCA members Garrie Tang and Carrie Wong in an intense three-game match.

Other PBCA members who gave a good performance are the following: 

1.  Harry Lee and Kobe Lau - 2nd place in the men's doubles D division.  Kobe also won the top place with Erica Fung in the mixed doubles D division consolation bracket;

2.  Livia Chandra and Amy Shih - 2nd place in the women's doubles D division;

3.  Melchi Viado and Ranier Ratonel - winner in the B division consolation bracket.  Melchi also won in the mixed doubles C division consolation bracket;

4.  Titan Balandra won second place in the mixed doubles C division;
 
5.  Sheila Pambuena won second place in the women's doubles B division.

The AHCCC tournament was organized by Andy "Monkie" Tran with the help of Peter Mendoza and Virra Ratonel.

The NBL fall season recreational league games in the Los Angeles District concluded December 5, with PBCA making it to the State Playoffs in two divisions.

PBCA will compete in the B and D divisions during the State Playoffs in January next year, which will be held in San Francisco. 

Teams PBCA Red and PBCA Green emerged as the top two teams in the D division which will compete in the playoffs.  The PBCA Red team clinched the first place when its women outdid PBCA Green's women in the singles event and took one mixed doubles game. 

In the B division, PBCA dropped to second place against the San Gabriel Valley Badminton Club Terminators on Friday night.  But this will still qualify PBCA's B team for the playoffs.