Alayan turns back Gutierrez, makes quarters

Michael Rodney Alayan of Alpha Angelicum/Dunlop/Whackers outsteadied JC Gutierrez of Aztec, 21-12, 21-18, to roll into the quarterfinals of the 16-under boys singles in the Toby’s-Dunlop Sixth Youth Badminton Championships yesterday at the West Drive Badminton court in Pasig City.

In the quarterfinals, the fifth seed Alayan clashes with No. 19 John Kenneth Arciaga of Alpha Angelicum, a 21-9, 21-11 winner over No. 32 Paul Benjamin Agregado of Elizabeth Seton/WWGBA, 21-9, 21-11.

Also gaining quarterfinals berths in this single knockout affair presented by Toby’s Sports and Dunlop and backed by Inquirer.net, Solar Sports, CS Sports, Themos, Yellow Cab and Slazenger were 33rd seed Ivan Angsico of Aztec/RAQ4COCK, 49th seed Virgil Allen del Mundo of College Monterel de Pila/Dunlop/Whackers, 65th seed Marius Zapanta of Aztec, 96th seed Mervin Rencel Santiago of St. Louis College/JLTC/Battledore, 104th seed Kevin Suarex of ETC-YPBC, and 128th seed Philip Joper Escueta of Colegio Monterel de Pila/ Dunlop/ Whackers.

Angsico defeated 47th seed Patrick Natividad of UAP/Golden Shuttle Foundation, 21-16, 9-21, 21-19; Del Mundo ripped 57th seed Jose Nej Martinez of Colegio Monterel/Court 12, 21-18, 15-21, 21-18; Zapanta downed 76th seed Tristan Rene Santos of DBA/JLTC/Battledore, 21-13, 21-13.

; Santiago whacked 88th seed Ralp Jason Ubungen of UPHS-Laguna/Dunlop/Whackers, 21-17, 18-21, 21-11; Suarex won by default over 110th seed Brent Rafalles Wu of Philippine Cultural College and Escueta hammered 120th seed Charlo Tengco of STCJA/Golden Shuttle Foundation.

In the girls’ singles in the 16-under division, top seed Jessalam Sampurna of CGEAHS/Battledore continued her winning streak, crushing 5th seed Dorrine Go of DLS-Lipa, 21-4, 19-21, 21-15, to also advance into the quarterfinals in this 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. She next faces 9th seed Pauline Marie Tan of St Paul/ Court 12, who downed no. 15 kimberly dela Cruz of ICA, 21-9, 21-8.

Meanwhile, organizers of the tournament are inviting all amateur photographers to join the Toby’s-Inquirer Online Photo Contest. At stake are Toby’s gift certificates of up to P3,000.

According to Nicole Limon, Toby’s sports marketing supervisor, contestants must take action shots and other memorable moments in the ongoing Toby’s Youth Badminton Championship. Deadline for submission of photo entries is on Nov. 2, 7 p.m. Entries may be submitted at [email protected]. Loggers may also vote for their favorite photo to get a chance to win a Toby’s laptop bag. Online voting is from Nov. 3-13. For more details, log on at tobys.com.

The elimination matches ends today, Oct. 31, while the finals in all age divisions will be held on Nov. 14-16 at the SM Megamall Atrium A.