Fancied Chinese gives last Pinay bet the boot

MANILA, Philippines – Fourth seed Jiang Yanjiao of China took out the last Filipino hope in the Bingo Bonanza Philippine Open Badminton Championships, outclassing Malvinne Alcala, 21-5, 21-16, to advance to the semifinal round of women’s singles at the Philsports Arena last night.

Giving away some two inches in height, Jiang made up for this with her quickness and skill as she dominated the opening set before holding off the game Filipina in the next to complete the sweep to the disappointment of the local crowd that came to cheer for the 13-year-old Alcala.

Jiang, the 2008 China Open Super Series champion, won six of the last seven points in the second frame to seal the win and arrange an interesting semifinal duel with top seed Zhou Mi ogf Hong Kong.

The tall, charming Zhou overpowered Sachiyo Imai of Japan, 21-7, 21-10, to stay on track of her title retention bid in $120,000 tournament sponsored by Bingo Bonanza and organized by the International Management Group.

Earlier, the men’s doubles pair of Kelvin Panganiban and Gabriel Villanueva took a stinging 8-21, 9-21 setback at the hands of the top-seeded Indonesian duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Bona Septano.

Still, the 5-8Alcala and the Panganiban-Villanueva tandem emerged as the best performers among the big local contingent, which remained behind their regional counterparts in talent, skills and playing styles.

Wang Xin of China also advanced to the Final Four with a 21-17, 21-9 victory over Rie Eto of Japan as the Chinese poised to dominate the event

The other quarterfinal matches in various divisions are still being held at presstime. For updates on Bingo Bonanza RP Open, log on to wwww.philopenbadminton.com.

Meanwhile, tickets for the semis today (Saturday) and the finals tomorrow (Sunday) are available at Ticketworld with prices pegged at P500, P400, P300, P200 and P50. For details, contact Ticketworld at 891-9999 or log on to ticketworld.com.ph.

China has 13 other entries vying for semis while Indonesia has nine, including four in the men’s doubles while Hong Kong gained seven other quarterfinal berths in the tournament backed by Victor (PCOME Industrial Sales, Inc), PLDT Business Solutions, The Philippine STAR, the Philippine Sports Commission, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Solar Sports.

The semis will be played starting at 1 p.m. today while the finals in five divisions will be played tomorrow, also at 1 p.m.