Alcala barges into German Juniors finals

MANILA, Philippines - Malvinne Anne Alcala flashed awesome form and took out two fancied South Korean rivals to barge into the championship round of the German Juniors International badminton tournament in Berlin, Germany Saturday.

Alcala, the reigning back-to-back Singapore Junior champion, upended Joo I Jeon, 21-19, 21-16, in the quarterfinals then subdued giant-killer So Yeon Han in a down-to-the-wire decider, 18-21, 21-12, 21-19, to gain a crack at the crown in the week-long event featuring some of the world’s leading junior players.

So earlier slew top seed Ngan Yi Cheung of Hong Kong.

The 17-year-old Alcala, whose campaign is sanctioned and sponsored by the Philippine Badminton Association, headed by Vice President and PBA president Jejomar Binay, PBA chair Manny V. Pangilinan and PBA sec-gen Rep. Albee Benitez, goes for the crown against another Korean Jang Mi Lee.

On her way to the finals, the ace Filipina shuttler swept past German Luise Helm, 21-13, 21-15, routed joint fifth seed Emily Westwood, 21-9, 21-10, before thumping Rituparna Das of India, 21-12, 21-18, in the Last 16 stage.

Alcala is the lone Filipina in the event, one of the legs of the prestigious European Junior circuit that drew bets from South Korea, India, England, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Denmark, Germany, France, Finland, Canada, Turkey, Sweden, Netherlands and Czeck Republic.