Sarah Barredo swept all of her assignments and led the march of the favorites at the start of the MVP Second Badminton Cup Wednesday at the Olympic Badminton Center in Ugong, Pasig City.
Barredo showed no signs of rust and fatigue as she closed out her day with a comfortable win over Anthea Marie Gonzalez, 21-8, 21-13, to top her group. The National University senior earlier took down Christel Rei Fuentespina, 21-6, 21-9, and Angel Valle, 21-13, 21-11.
The 22-year-old Barredo was happy to be competing again after the COVID-19 pandemic destroyed the sport’s schedule for more than a year.
Fellow UAAP standouts Jaja Andres and Mikaela De Guzman also posted 3-0 cards as they mauled their respective rivals.
UP’s Andres also defeated Valle, 21-17, 21-10, then Gonzalez, 21-13, 21-13, before downing Fuentespina, 21-12, 21-13.
Meanwhile, Ateneo’s De Guzman opened her tournament with a win over Gonzalez, 21-17, 21-15, before winning past Fuentespina, 21-8, 21-7, and Valle, 21-8, retired, in that order.
The three will test their mettle against each other on Thursday for a place in the final the following day.
Ros Pedrosa and age-group standout Jewel Albo paced their respective groups in the men’s singles as both went unscathed .
Pedrosa overpowered Jefferson Oba-ob, 21-10, 21-14, but needed some miracle shots before outlasting former La Salle stalwart Kenneth Monterubio 22-20, 21-16. Albo was equally deadly, beating Oba-ob, 21-10, 21-13, and Robert Ishmael Ramos, 21-8, 21-12.
Mark Anthony Velasco and RJ Oba-ob paced the other pool with similar 2-0 win-loss records. Velasco scored a 21-23, 21-13 victory over Lance Vargas before sweeping JM Estrada, 21-13, 21-14, while RJ Oba-ob had to outlast Vargas in three, 20-22, 21-16, 21-8, before closing the day’s action with a win over Clarence Villaflor, 21-19.21-13.
Meanwhile in women’s doubles, veteran duos took control of their respective matches.
Thea Pomar and Jochelle Alvarez took care of Susmita Ramos and Althea Fuentespina, 21-15, 21-17, in Group 1. On the other hand, Nicole Albo and Lea Inlayo defeated Aubrey Masongsong and Andrea Hernandez, 21-6, 21-7, in Group 2.
