Alcala reaches Last 8 of RP open badminton women's singles

MANILA, Philippines – Thirteen-year-old Malvinne Ann Venice Alcala made heads turn Thursday when she barged into the quarterfinal round of the tough Bingo Bonanza Philippine Grand Prix Gold Badminton Championships at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City. Four RP pairs shared the spotlight with Alcala as they also advanced in the second round of the men’s doubles event while other local bets, including in women’s doubles, were shown the exit door after facing highly-touted opponents in the $120,000 tournament. But the day’s contest belonged to Alcala, who reached new heights in her young career when she entered the Last 8 of the women's singles event. Her win ignited frenzy among Filipino fans. Alcala used all-around game in demolishing compatriot Camille Krisnin Yang, 21-9, 21-7, and arrange a quarterfinal match Jiang Yanjiao of China. The fourth seeded Jiang earned a quarterfinals berth after a 21-13, 21-12 win over Vietnam’s Nhung Le Ngoc. Alcala opened up her Bingo Bonanza campaign with a clinical 21-8, 21-3 win over Ella Dorado in the first round Wednesday to earn a Round of 16 spot. Other women’s quarterfinal pairings will have China’s Wang Shixian facing Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong, Wang Xin meeting Rie Eto of Japan while Zhou Mi, the third Chinese in the Last 8, clashes with Japan’s Sachiyo Imai. Imai earned a quarterfinal spot after a 21-13, 21-11 triumph over Mong Kwan Yi of Hong Kong. She also scored an upset of eighth-ranked Maja Tvrdy of Slovenia, 21-13, 21-10, in the first round. In men’s doubles action, four local pairs entered the second round but at the expense of their teammates. Andrei Babad and Peter Gabriel Magnaye eliminated Paul Co and Gregorio Esquillo, 21-10, 21-12; Kelvin Panganiban and Gabriel Villanueva axed Joffre Arollano and Cliff Yan, 21-16, 21-13; Emmanuel Garcia and Mark Alvin Natividad sent Alfredo Mailon and Recson Salvaleon home with a 21-12, 21-13 win; while Jobetth Co and Antonino Gadi waylaid Filipino Jaime Junio and Indonesian Aditya Arifin, 21-17, 21-12, in round the of 32. Kennevic Asuncion and Lloyd Escoses, meanwhile, withdrew because of the latter's hamstring injury giving China’s No.7 tandem Sun Junjie and Tao Jiaming a free ride to the Last 16. Other Filipino teams that were eliminated were Jose Martinez and Mikhail Nacisvalencia, Ronel Estanislao and Paul Vivas, Wilfredo Amoroso and Kelvin Alfred Dalisay, Raymond Padilla and Roden Rivera. In the women’s side, Alcala teamed up with Gelita Castillo but their tandem failed to produce good results suffering a sorry 21-18, 21-19 loss to the Chinese pair of Zhang Jinkang and Wang Siyun. Lovely Sawada and Angelica Pardo followed suit after a 21-8, 21-7 setback at the hands of Hong Kong’s Tse Ying Suet and Chan Tsz Ka. The Yang-Patricia Barredo duo also had the same result after being waylaid by Wei Yili and veteran internationalist Gao Ling of China, 21-6, 21-6 while Reyne Calimlim and Danica Bolos bowed to Japan’s Seiko Yamada and Yuka Hayashi, 12-21, 14-21. Kennie and Kennevic Asuncion, the country’s best hopes for a medal here, blew a first set win and lost steam against China’s Yuting Deng and Zihan Qiu, 21-19, 8-21, 16-21, in the mixed doubles late in the afternoon. It was a sorry setback for the veteran sister-brother tandem, the 2005 Manila Southeast Asian Games mixed doubles bronze medalists and runner-up in the inaugural staging of this event in 2006 who reached as high as 11th place in the world rankings three years ago. – GMANews.TV