Castilo, Alcala forge Binay GP semis duel

MANILA, Philippines - Top seed Gelita Castilo of Golden Shuttle Foundation and fancied Malvinne Alcala of Phl-Victor rolled past their rivals in similar fashions to arrange an explosive semifinal showdown in the ladies Open singles of the VP Binay Grand Prix Badminton Open Championships-PBaRS fourth leg at the Philsports Arena in Pasig yesterday.

Castilo, seeking to seal the national top ranking with another win here after ruling the last stop in Davao, disposed of Elaine Malelang, 21-14, 21-10, while Alcala, going for a follow-up to her second leg victory in Bacolod, dominated third seed Danica Bolos, 21-10, 21-13, to cap a pair of 25-minute romps by two of the country’s leading players.

Second seed Bianca Carlos, also of GSF and winner of the kickoff leg of the four-stage nationwide circuit co-presented by MVP Sports Foundation and Robinsons Land, struggled against Jennifer Cayetano but pulled off a 21-18, 21-17 win just the same to set up the other semis duel with unfancied Reyne Calimlim.

The 21-year-old Calimlim, of Victor/Pcome/Philstar/La Salle, joined the big guns by upending Grace Lim, pouncing on the fourth seeded bet’s errors in the decider to pound out a 14-21, 21-19, 21-9 victory in the tournament sponsored by PLDT Smart Foundation, Robinsons Mall, Gatorade and official equipment sponsor Victor, exclusively distributed by PCOME Industrial Sales, Inc.

“It will be tough but I’ll try to use my experience (against Carlos),” said Calimlim, who never gave up after dropping the first set, outlasting Lim in the second set then outdueling the ETC mainstay in the third with her power game.

The semis matches begin at 9 a.m. today, also at Philsports, according to the organizing Philippine Badminton Ranking System.

An explosive pair of semis matches was also forged in the premier men’s Open singles with top seed Toby Gadi downing Andrei Babad, 21-15, 21-13, for a showdown with No. 4 Joper Escueta, who trounced Randolph Balatbat, 21-9, 21-9.

Third seed Gabriel Magnaye hung tough to outpoint Wilfred Natividad, 21-18, 21-18, and set up a face-off with Ian Mendez, who foiled Paolo Sunga, who upset second seed Paul Vivas in the Last 16 stage, 21-14, 21-14.