Baguio leads gainers in 8-under of Toby's

Daniel Baguio of AZTEC leaned on a blazing start en route to a convincing 21-5, 21-11 victory over third seed Nhowell Hernandez of Dunlop/Whackers to advance to the quarterfinals of the 8-under boys’ singles in the Toby’s-Dunlop sixth Youth Badminton Championships yesterday at the West Drive Badminton court in Pasig City.

Baguio, one of the early favorites who drew a bye in the round-of-32, next faces No. 5 Carmelo Lunod of MSI JR, a 21-13, 21-19 winner over sixth seed Javier Tiosejo of LSGH/GBC; and eighth seed Benhur Agregado of WWGBA, 21-0, 21-5.

Also making it to the next round in the single knockout affair presented by Toby’s Sports and Dunlop and supported by Inquirer.net, Solar Sports, CS Sports, Themos, Yellow Cab and Slazenger were ninth seed Gio Velasco of WWGBA, Joaquin Laurel of MSI JR and 13th seed Gilbert Lhuillier.

Velasco, who also drew a bye in the first-round, topped No. 11 Jeff Alisandro Cruz of MSI JR, 21-18, 21-13, while Laurel downed 15th seed Patrick Bangug of Shuttledome, 21-11, 21-9, and 13th seed Gilbert Lhuiller of Cembo ES, 21-10, 21-16, respectively.

Other quarterfinalists in the annual event also backed by Gold’s Gym, Gerflor Taraflex, Hershey’s Chocolates, SM Megamall, West Drive Badminton Center, Crumpler Bags, Equipe, Kontrol USA, Thermos, Burlington Socks, Action & Fitness Magazine, Wave 89.1 and Mellow 94.7, were 20th seed Rafael Briones of WWGBA, 24th seed Piolo Angsico of Aztec/RAQ4Cock, 28th seed Eerl Baes of WWGBA, and 32nd seed John Bryan Bernardo of MSI JR.

Briones ripped 19th seed Benison Panotes of HIS, 21-12, 21-10, and 17th seed Kenneth Pimentel of MSI JR, 21-6, 21-14; Angsico drew a bye in the first round, then outplayed 22nd seed Zion Aguas of Dunlop/Whackers, 21-4, 21-3; Baes also drew bye in the opener before winning by default, while Bernardo also drew a bye before slipping past 29th seed James Bryan Estrada of E. Adaba, 21-0, 21-4.

The elimination matches ends on October 31 while the finals in all age divisions will be held November 14-16 at the SM Megamall Atrium A. For more details, log on at www.toby‘s.com. Events to be disputed are singles, doubles and mixed doubles for boys and girls, with action to be held in six age divisions: 8-under, 10-under, 12-under, 14-under, 16-under and 18-under.

In the girls’ singles action in the 8-under, 5th seed Meghan Cruz of AC Antipolo took a bye in the first round then subdued 7th seed Bianca Therese Aguila of Dunlop/ Whackers, 21-15, 21-10 to lead the winner’s to the round-of-16. She next faces top pick Aldreen Concepcion of AZTEC.

Other winners in the girls’ side were 9th seed Laarni Moreno of Team Viscaya, 15th seed Qianxi Orillaneda of MSI JR, 18th seed Chelsea Anne Panganiban of MSI JR, 22nd seed Micah Bea Supena of MSI JR, 26th seed Ghiselle Erica Bautista of Metroplex and 32nd seed Bettina Dannah Villanueva of MSI JR.