Coach Michael Gamez and Assistant Coach Rita Gamez decided not to jump over the net to congratulate their jubiliant Alamo Badminton players at the end of the Houston Yonex Badminton Tournament on April 5th and 6th. After all, the net is five feet tall, and they had only won a season high 13 out of a possible 25 Junior Division trophies. The juniors captured more than half of the 1st through 3rd places in Singles, Doubles, and Mixed Doubles events. Of all Texas tournaments, the Houston tournament attracts the most and the best badminton players from Texas and neighboring states. This year the regular Texan juniors from Dallas, Houston, Waco, and San Antonio made appearances. Besides those from the Alamo Badminton Club, some other juniors from San Antonio particpated: the juniors from the Alamo Badminton Club feeder program--Community Olympic Development Program (CODP). The Alamo Badminton juniors had not seen their city comrades in tournament play throughout the entire season since back in August at the Alamo Badminton Club Junior Championship. Others competed from Colorado and Louisiana. It was great to see many returning and new players to the tournament. This April, Coach Mike made sure they were prepared with a smarter and stronger game plan. The training and preparation resulted in the Alamo Badminton Club juniors securing first places in all five disciplines: Boys Singles, Girls Singles, Boys Doubles, Girls Doubles, and Mixed Doubles.
To see pictures of the winners click here!
This was not an easy feat for them. They pulled out every shot from their hats--smashes, drives, slices--in order to deny the rest of the competitors championship titles. "The kids played really hard and very smart in Houston. They drew a lot of inspiration from each other as each teammate defeated the opponents," said Club Administrator Rita Gamez when asked of the kids performance.
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The Junior Boys and Girls Doubles Championship Finals
drew the best crowds since the competitors were not from the same groups.
Gilbert Gil and Brandon Juarez, #2 seed, from CODP (upper left) faced
off against the ABC twins Sergio Salas and Xavier Salas, #1 seed (bottom
left). The seeds gave a clear indication of the results as Sergio and
Xavier defeated Brandon and Gilbert in two games. The Girls Doubles Finalists
shared the number one and number two seeds. However, the Alamo Badminton
Club team of Lynda and Tina (upper right) proved to be #1 as they defeated
CODP sisters Carla and Vanessa Diaz (lower right).
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Alamo Badminton Club teammates Tina Cavasos (left) and
Lynda Guerrero (right) appeared in the all-too-familiar Girls Singles
Final. In this game Lynda, age 15, had a significant height advantage
over 12-year-old Tina. But despite her young age and small stature Tina's
desire and speed proved too much for Lynda's great effort. Tina also competed
for the first time in the College Event. She played older and more experienced
girls and still managed to capture Consolation in College Womens Singles.
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The Boys Singles match featured Alamo Badminton Club
teammates Sergio Salas and Fernando Funakoshi (left). Before meeting each
other in the finals they both faced tough competitors in their semifinal
matches. Sergio defeated Eric Hilsop from Colorado and Fernando beat Xavier
Salas. The finals match was the more exciting of the junior matches. Sergio
took the first game but Fernando fought back to bring the match to the
third and final game. After 30 minutes, Sergio served for match point
and won. It was difficult trying to get a good singles picture of Sergio
Salas (right). Our photographer could not keep up with his whereabouts
as he played in four events. Sergio was the Triple Crown winner in the
Junior category and even took home a 2nd place trophy in College Mens
Singles.
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Between running the Junior events and umpiring the Open
Semis and Finals events, Coach Michael Gamez (left) was also able to play
with Jim Daniels from Waco in the Mens Senior Doubles and in the Open
Mixed Doubles with Ruth Menchaca (right).
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Coach Mike Gamez and Ruth Menchaca fell short of a trophy.
Alamo Badminton member Ruth Menchaca and doubles partner Chern-Nee Tan
(bottom left), seeded #2, lost in the semi-finals against the #3 seeded team,
Mariani and Made, in a match that could have gone either
way when they had to set in the final game. However, Ruth won 2nd place
when losing to #1 seed Budiyani Setiawan (bottom right).
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| All in all the tournament was a big success. The registration committee (right) and tournament directors awed the participants with their organizational skills, punctuality, and teamwork. All eight courts were seldom empty, the catered food was delicious, the t-shirts were creative, and the trophies were big and shiny. We look forward to Houston and other Texas cities hosting more tournaments of similar caliber. |  |
