The Sunnyvale Sun
Sports
Mustangs' Pang nails upset win, but Pun claims singles crown
By Mike Barnhart
Homestead sophomore Terrence Pang did something at the Central Coast Section badminton championships that no boy had been able to do in the previous three CCS tournaments. He beat Emmanuel Pun.
Then Pun, a Monta Vista senior, regrouped at the double-elimination event, and became the first player--boy or girl--in the 33 years of CCS badminton history to win four singles titles in a row.
Pun, after losing to Pang in the winner's bracket final on May 24, dropped into the consolation bracket. He had to win three straight contests later that day, including two rematches with Pang, to claim his fourth section title.
Santa Clara Valley Athletic League athletes dominated the three-day affair, May 22-24 at Monta Vista, claiming championships in all five divisions. Overall, 13 individuals and teams from the SCVAL finished fourth or better in their 14-team brackets.
The top seeds never lost in the girls competition, Lynbrook junior Connie Hwang taking singles and sophomore twin sisters Nina and Hannah Wang of Monta Vista winning doubles. Zenas Iam and Joy Wai of Mountain View earned the mixed doubles title by beating Leland's top-seeded team of Alan Liu and Aggi Bialy twice, and Galdino Rosas and Andy Quach of Milpitas won in boys doubles.
Boys singles
Pang, who had earned the top seed by surprising Pun in the SCVAL tournament, made it two in a row over Pun by whipping him in the winners bracket finale 15-6, 15-9, but the defending champion would not be denied.
Pun, who has played the sport since age 8, gained confidence with a win over Fremont standout Bryant Luong. Then Pun beat Pang twice in hard-fought, three-game matches.
Pang opened the first match with a 15-6 win and was ahead in the second game, but Pun scored 10 straight points and kept his hopes alive by winning 15-8. He took game three, 15-11, to earn another match.
Pun won the final match 15-13, 11-15, 15-7, becoming the first player to win four singles titles. James Young of Gunn had won three in a row beginning in 1996. During the first four seasons of CCS badminton play, 1975-1978, Jamie Gutierrez of Milpitas won girls doubles titles her first two years and singles crowns as a junior and senior.
Fremont's Luong, who lost only to Pang and Pun, placed third with a 4-2 record. Michael Liu of Leland shared fifth with a 3-2 record. Leigh senior Nguyen Vo went 2-2 and tied for seventh.
Girls singles
Hwang, the top seed, dominated the field en route to her second straight girls singles crown. She beat friend and training partner Caroline Cherng of Saratoga twice, including 15-2, 15-0 in the championship match.
Hwang, who trains year round at Sunnyvale's Bintang Badminton Academy, allowed a total of only15 points during her four matches.
Cherng finished 3-2, including a 15-4, 15-11 triumph over Wilcox's Jacqueline Tran in the consolation bracket finale. Tran, who won her first-round contest against Leland's Satomi Tsuneta, finished third with a 5-2 record.
Tsuneta won a consolation match, then was ousted by Archbishop Mitty's Tiffany Jianto, who finished 3-2 and tied for fifth.
Girls doubles
The Wang sisters won four straight matches, including two against the No. 2 seed, Hannah Chang and Maggie Li of Lynbrook. In the winners finale, the Wangs won 15-11, 15-2. Then they faced a stiffer challenge in the title match, before prevailing 15-12, 17-15.
Another talented Monta Vista duo, Xuan Bao and Sandra Quah, shared fifth place with a 2-2 record. Bao and Quah won their first two matches, including a first-round match against Gunderson's Michelle Hoang and Ngoc Tran (0-2), but lost to Lynbrook's Chang and Li.
Natalie Groft and Sandy Tat of Willow Glen won their first-round match against a Los Altos team, but then lost two in a row.
Mixed doubles
Leland's Liu and Bialy, the champion of the Blossom Valley Athletic League's Mt. Hamilton Division, were one win from the CCS crown.
Liu and Bialy won three matches in a row at CCS, including an 11-15, 15-3, 15-10 decision over Mountain View's Iam and Wai in the winners' bracket final. But Iam and Wai got hot and beat the Leland duo twice for the title.
Willow Glen's Jonathan Nguyen and Anna Giang and Westmont's Michael Chong and Lan Nguyen won consolation matches and finished 1-2. Prospect's James Kim and Mina Yokoyama finished 0-2.
Boys doubles
Lynbrook's team of Eric Chao and Francis Yao went 2-2 and finished tied for fifth. Jonathan Tran and David Pham scored a pair of consolation victories and tied for seventh.
Jason Liu and Manish Mammidama of Monta Vista won their first-round match, but then lost two in the consolation bracket.
Steven Tran and Alan Wang of Pioneer won a consolation match and finished 1-2, and Willow Glen's tandem of Bryan Chau and Jeremy Law did the same thing.
