Carlos, Castilo stay on collision course

MANILA, Philippines - Golden Shuttle Foundation’s Bianca Carlos and Gelita Castilo hurdled their respective quarterfinals rivals in varying fashions to advance in women’s Open singles even as five-time champion Toby Gadi rolled into the semis in the men’s side of the MVP Sports Foundation-Philippine Badminton Ranking System (PBaRS) Makati leg at the Makati Coliseum yesterday.

Carlos, seeking a repeat of her straight-set victory over top seeded Castilo in the finals of the PBaRS Cebu leg last May, bundled out Katherine Mayono, 21-14, 21-8, to set up a semis duel with a surging Amabel Sumabat of WWGBA, who upset third seed Bianca Legaspi, 21-8, 19-21, 21-14.

Castilo, on the other hand, scored a walkover win over Cassandra Lim to arrange a semifinal showdown in the event sponsored by MVP Sports Foundation with No. 4 Danica Bolos, who whisked off Dei Duqilla.

Gadi, who drew a first round bye and scored a walkover win in the second round, posted his third straight-set romp, a 21-8, 21-18 win over No.10 Christopher Flores, as the top GSF bet eased through the semis against No. 4 Kevin Dalisay, who edged Kevin Cudiamat, 21-15, 8-21, 21-12.

No. 2 Paul Vivas of Phl team-Victor held off Orlan Ticala, 21-7, 22-20, to set up a duel with No. 8 Andrei Babad, also of Phl team-Victor, who upended third seed Patrick Natividad, 21-13. 21-18, in the premier category of the five-day event organized by the Philippine Badminton Association headed by Vice President Jejomar Binay, chair Manny V. Pangilinan and sec-gen Rep. Albee Benitez primarily to discover fresh talents and provide players a series of ranking tournaments for spots in the national pool.

Carlos, the 16-year-old find from St. Paul College Pasig, also moved into the semis of the Under-19 class which she also ruled in Cebu. She toppled No. 8 Samantha Ramos, 21-7, 21-12, to arrange a clash with third seed and fellow GSF mainstays Patrisha Malibiran, who stopped Mariya Sevilla, 23-21, 21-8.

Young Aldreen Rae Concepcion of Allied Victor continued to dish out top form, upending the sixth seeded Lim, 17-21, 21-16, 21-11, in the lower half of the girls’ U-19 draw to seal a semis duel with Sumabat, who shocked second seed Elisha Ongcuangco in the third round then stunned No. 5 Janelle de Vera, 21-15, 21-9.

Concepcion, a 13-year-old talent from Angelicum College who bagged the silver in the recent Palarong Pambansa, also shocked top seed Nina Zamora, 18-21, 21-14, 21-14, to likewise reach the U-15 semis of the event supported by Victor PCome Industrial Sales Inc., exclusive distributor of Victor equipment.