Dawal spills Gadi to gain JVC semis

Gutsy Paolo Jay Dawal shocked third seed Toby Gadi with a masterful 15-6, 15-5 victory yesterday to barge into the boys’ semifinal round of the juniors division even as the fancied bets played true to form in the girls’ side of the JVC Open Badminton Championships at the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati City.

But Dawal, playing out of Malolos, Bulacan, will have his hands full against PNP’s Kevin Dalisay, the second ranked player in the fold who overcame a sluggish start to bundle out Valle Verde’s Justin Legaspi, 15-13, 15-3, in their own side of the quarterfinal duel.

Top ranked Tim Ang of PNP/Victor sent another Valle Verde bet to the sidelines as he whipped Roy Callanta, 15-6, 15-1, to arrange a semis clash with his victim’s teammate, Jobett Co, who stunned fourth seed Gerard Corteza in the round of 16 and then repulsed Battledore’s Andrei Babad, 15-6, 17-14.

But while upsets continued to mar play in the boys’ side of the JVC-sponsored event, the girls’ division went according to form as the top four Valle Verde players reached the semis of the 16-under category in similar easy fashions. Top seed Raquel Guerrero trounced Bianca Legaspi, 11-2, 11-0, to set up a semis clash with third ranked Maiqui Laurel, who ripped Samantha Huang, 11-4, 11-4.

Second seed Karyn Velez and fourth ranked Janina Paredes forged the other semis duel by beating Jovalyn Cabañero, 11-0, 11-5, and Jackilyn Cudia, 11-0, 11-1, respectively in the event backed by Technomarine, Colours, Alaska, Rudy Project, Accel, Ayala Center, The STAR, Tokyo Tokyo, Lactacyd, 103.5 K-lite, Pioneer Insurance, Gosen and Victorinox Original Swiss Army Knives.

The semis round will be played tomorrow after the collegiate matches while the finals in four divisions are slated Saturday starting with the corporate category pitting AB Leisure against Philippine Star to be followed by the title duels in the juniors, elite and veterans divisions.

The collegiate finals will be held Sunday along with exhibition matches among celebrities and between the Philippines and Indonesia to be followed by the awards rites and celebrity games. For details and other results, visit the event’s website at www.jvcbadminton.com.

Meanwhile, highlights of the event will be telecast on IBC-13 on Aug. 7 (9-11 p.m.), Aug. 8 (7-9 p.m.) and Aug. 9 (8-10 p.m.); and on Solar Sports on Aug. 17-19 (10-12 mn) and Aug.27-29 (8-10 p.m.).