Phl shuttlers dominate US juniors tilt

MANILA, Philippines - Siblings Mark Shelley and Malvinne Ann Alcala bagged three gold medals each to power Team Philippines to an impressive 12-gold medal haul in 21st Annual Junior International Championships – Wes Schoppe Memorial in Manhattan Beach, California, USA recently.

Mark, 15, stamped his class by ruling three age categories – boys’ Under-17 and -19 singles and the U-15 doubles, while Malvinne reigned in the girls’ U-19 and U-22 and U-19 mixed doubles categories of the annual event that drew 114 players from Mexico, Chile, Guatemala, Ghana, Peru, the Philippines and US.

Mark teamed up with rising star Joaquin Louis Pangilinan to capture the U-15 doubles plum. Pangilinan, who bagged the U-15 gold medal, is the newest recruit of the Phl development team from City Shuttle Pampanga.

Malvinne, on the other hand, partnered with Ros Leenard Pedrosa in winning the U-19 mixed doubles gold in the event sponsored by the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club of California and the most prestigious and longest running annual international junior tournament in the US.

The eight-team Phl contingent, headed by Philippine Badminton Association national coaches Malvin Alcala and Allan De Leon, took part in the U-15, -17, -19 and 22 age brackets which they dominated against their Pan-American counterparts to underscore the team’s awesome form and cohesion.

Pedrosa also took home three gold medals, including boys’ U-22 and yhe mixed doubles U-22 with Flo Lamigo.

The other gold medalists were Joella Geva de Vera (girls’ singles U-17); Alexis Geverjuan and Wilson Joseph Lopez II (boys’ doubles U-17); and De Vera and Lamigo (girls’ doubles U-22).

Three Phl bets took home silver medals, including Wilson Joseph Lopez II (boys’ singles U-17), Pedrosa (singles U-19) and De Vera (singles U-19) while Pangilinan and Alexis Geverjuan nailed bronze medals in U-17 singles.