Established by Filipinos living in Southern California, originally as a small group of recreational badminton players, the Philippine Badminton Club of America (PBCA) has evolved into a big and diversified group of fun-loving, friendly and family-oriented sports enthusiasts who love and play the game of badminton with passion, skill and a healthy dose of competitiveness.
Johnson Kosgei claims
back-to-back titles in the
Autumn Mix Championships
In a display of outstanding athleticism and court skills, Johnson Kosgei of the Go Badminton training group claimed the champion’s titles in the B/C and C divisions with Janet Aggasid and Erica Fung, respectively, during the just concluded Autumn Mix Championships.
Johnson Kosgei with Erica Fung.
A native of Eldoret, Kenya, Kosgei honed his badminton skills by training with former Philippine national badminton player Peter Mendoza, who was eventually joined by former US national badminton player Eric Go.
Although he has only been training for less than half a year, Kosgei is already showing the trappings of a formidable court opponent. In the just concluded LABC Summer Bash, Kosgei also won the mixed doubles E+ division with Erica Fung.
The road to the championship was not an easy journey for Johnson Kosgei. In the C division, Kosgei/Fung had to battle it out with Shan Cawili/Kate Marcelo and Simon Romua/Rea Badillo in the final round. Kosgei/Fung were dealt a blow, which almost cost them the title, when PBCA’s Shan Cawili and Kate Marcelo beat them. Cawili/Marcelo would have taken the title were it not for Romua/Badillo who beat them. In the end, the contest had to be settled by the point system since all three pairs were even in the number of games won, which favored Kosgei/Fung.
In the B/C division, Kosgei and Janet Aggasid fought the championship against PBCA’s Anthony Pham/Rayna Cvetkova and BCC’s Kiet/Nelly Tran. The tactical partnership of Kosgei and Aggasid led them to the champion's title in this division.
In the A Division, PBCA’s Melchi Viado won his first title in the top level with Rulan Yeh when Patrick Thona retired due to an injury, after Viado/Yeh beat the top seeds and last year’s champions Andy Jap and Rayna Cvetkova.
Meanwhile, Scotland’s top singles player Alistair Casey, who is now based and coaching in LA, took the third place with his trainee-partner Zilany “Chucky” Don. Casey/Don gave Andy “ Monkie” Tran and Sheila Pambuena a good beating in a straight win as they proved relentless in their attacks against Monkie/Pambuena’s vulnerable defenses.
Melchi Viado, however, didn’t get the same fortune in the B Division with Zilany Don when they faced fellow PBCA’s Titan Balandra and Maya Bernarte. The Balandra/Bernarte tandem proved lethal as the two claimed their way to the championship.
In the C/D Division, PBCA’s Simon Romua and Emily Hungerford claimed their first title ever by beating BCC’s Amiel Tingzon and PBCA’s Ina Gonzalez in the finals.
Romua/Hungerford’s ascent to the finals was almost surreal as they were on the verge of defeat from the hands of fellow PBCA Jun Bautista and Chris Lopez in a three-game match in the semis. Romua/Hungerford were about to give up on game three when Bautista/Lopez were up at 12 points, while they were down at 5 points only. But then Romua/Hungerford sprang back to life and seized the opportunity when Bautista/Lopez started making errors after errors. To the disappointment of Bautista/Lopez, and to the surprise of Romua/Hungerford, the latter finally caught up and won to advance in the finals.
The D Division also had its share of surprises and upsets. PBCA’s John So/ Chris Lopez, LA Valley’s Ron Querubin/Amy Olguin and BCC’s Neel Gandhi/Ynna Hughes (also a PBCA member) met in the finals. Earlier, So/Lopez won all their games in their division. During the first round of the finals, So/Lopez won against Gandhi/Hughes with a strong comeback being down 10-14 during the third game. Against all odds, So/Lopez scored five straight points to clinch the nerve-wracking game. However, Gandhi/Hughes showed their true grit by beating Querubin/Olguin, also on the third game. The stage is set for an exciting finish. When top seed So/Lopez faced Querubin/Olguin to clinch the title, they came out smashing on game one and won decisively. Down but not out, Querubin/Olguin managed to stage a comeback and score a narrow win on second. With their strong determination, not to mention the obvious exhaustion of So/Lopez, they pounced hard on the latter on game three and won. After the dust had settled, the three pairs ended up beating each other in three games leading to a triple tie! So/Lopez, who beat Gandhi/Hughes, would have been crowned champions were it not for Querubin/Olguin’s impressive comeback. In the end, it boiled down to points scored and Gandhi/Hughes took the champion’s title after being favored by a tie-breaker rule.
Finally, on the D/E Division, Nalla Fajardo and Neel Gandhi of BCC won after their opponents in the finals, PCBA’s Dwight Russell and May Nelson, were declared in default.
The Autumn Mix Championships is PBCA’s annual mixed doubles only tournament held every fall season, which is now in its third year.
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GO Badminton, which is a badminton training group headed by former US international player and Fil-Am Eric Go, organized the tournament and will donate the money raised to UNICEF’s humanitarian relief program for malnourished children in the Horn of Africa and needy children in the Philippines through Philippine Star (a national newspaper) charity outreach program called “Operation Damayan.”
GO BAD FOR GOOD TOURNAMENT ACCOUNTING SUMMARY REGISTRATION 5,146.00 SPONSORS 900.00 DONATIONS 706.00 OTHERS 470.00 7,222.00 EXPENSES T-SHIRTS 957.00 COURT FEE 300.00 TROPHIES 265.00 1,522.00 NET 5,700.00 DONATIONS DAMAYAN
3,500.00 UNICEF
2,200.00
From left: PBCA Director Virra Ratonel, SCBA Secretary Jun Bautista, ABC Manager Edward Cheng, SCBA Pres. Tom Wilmshurst, GO Badminton Head Coach Eric Go & PBCA Pres. Chito Viado.
So-Cal badminton tourney
raises $5,700 for charity
Badminton players in Southern California raised $5,700 in a charity badminton tournament held December 3 at the Arcadia Badminton Club in Arcadia, California. Dubbed as “GO BAD FOR GOOD: Go Play Badminton for a Good Cause,” the tournament, which was participated by 187 players from the Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas areas, was organized to raise funds for needy children.
A total of $7,222.00 was generated from the tournament, coming from entry fees, sponsorships and donations. After deducting the sum of $1,522 for expenses incurred, there will be $5,700.00 available for donation.
The tournament was sponsored by premier badminton equipment supplier Yonex, through its Torrance, California office. The following also provided support in cash and/or in kind: Arcadia Badminton Club, Jarrow Formulas, Macpartsonline, Lindenwood, Elma Gil, Goldilocks, Chowking, Hsin Tung Yan, Joy Badminton and Wayne Sporting Supplies.
Participating groups are Southern California Badminton Association (SCBA), Philippine Badminton Club of America (PBCA), Los Angeles Valley Club, San Diego Sequenators, Badminton Center Court, Woodshots Badminton Club, Las Vegas Badminton Club, California Institute of Technology Badminton, Wilson High School Badminton, Thousand Oaks Badminton Club, Southern Crew, San Gabriel Valley Badminton Club and Long Beach Badminton Club.
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PBCA once again successfully held its kids tournament, entitled JUNIOR AMATEUR CUP on November 12. The tournament was a team event and was participated by four teams compose of kids from various training groups, specifically from GO Badminton, OCBC, SGVBC-GBA, BCC and Allan Chan Training Group. Seen on the photo are members of the team champion (top) and team runner-up (bottom).
