Centeno-Castelo pair leads winners in JVC badminton

Patrick Centeno and Kiara Castelo pulled off an emphatic straight-set victory over the tandem of Kevin Cruz and Ella Arroyo to lead the winners in the first round of the mixed doubles event of the JVC Open Badminton 14-under Championships at the SM Megamall Friday.

Centeno and Castelo fashioned out a 15-6 win in the first set then completely dominated Cruz and Arroyo in the next en route to posting a 15-6, 15-1 rout to advance to the next round of this championship exclusively for players 14-year-old and below.

Joining the pair in the next stage, set April 24-25 in Pampanga, were Gerard Certeza and Janina Perez, who came away with a similar straight-set 15-7, 15-3 victory over Christopher Pilones and Danica Bolos as did the three other pairs in the event sponsored by electronics giant JVC and organized by the International Management Group (IMG).

Paul Vivas and Jackilyn Cudia thwarted Roden Rivera and Lourdes Gaspar in a thrilling 15-9, 15-10 win, while the Randolf Balatbat-Chona Medina and Peter Magnaye-Karyn Velez pairs beat Edgar de Jesus and Jaevena Susbilla, 15-0, 15-4; and Don Agustin and Jamila Cruz, 15-3, 15-5, respectively.

Two pairs, meanwhile, advanced to the next round with hardly a sweat as Paulo Andres-Pauline Andres and Jed Perez-Daisy Rivera scored walkover wins over the Jomari Pimentel-Adrianne Yniguez and Craig Lucas-Jinky Gonzaga tandems.

Meanwhile, hostilities in the boys’ singles are being played at presstime. Other events on tap are the girls’ singles and the doubles matches.

SM Southmall in Las Piñas will host the third round on May 22-23 with the semifinals and the finals set May 28-29 at the SM Megamall, which will also host a celebrity tournament on May 30.

The event, actually a prelude to the JVC National Open Championships, is supported by Alaska, Accel, Gosen, Toby’s Sports, Pioneer Insurance, Lactacyd, Tokyo Tokyo, The Philippine STAR, Agfa and Rudy Project.

To further help popularize and develop the sport, JVC has tapped the various SM malls for the event, including in Cebu and Iloilo where a series of clinics and exhibition matches will be held.

Launched last month at the SM North EDSA, the badminton clinics and exhibition matches will be held in Cebu on May 8-9 and in Iloilo on May 15-16.