Toughened up by her third and second place-finishes the last two years, Karyn "Chibby" Velez took the best dished out by the best junior player in the land and proved this time she’s better, winning the singles plum in the just-concluded JVC Open Badminton Championships at the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati over the weekend.
With sheer guts and determination, Velez outfoxed top seed and national team mainstay Raquel Guerrero in their thrilling title showdown for the 16-under class crown and completed an 11-9, 11-9 win in a victory that was more of a triumph of the spirit for the 14-year-old shuttler.
She never wavered and gallantly fought back from 2-5 and 1-6 deficits in each set to draw level then matched Guerrero point-for-point before outsteadying her older and more experienced rival to snatch the crown.
Guerrero, 16, had won the junior plum the last two years and appeared headed for a rare three-peat with her previous main rivals all moving to the elite division of what has become the unofficial national badminton championships.
But Velez had other things in mind.
After drawing a bye, Velez, a two-time Philippine National Youth Games (Batang Pinoy) singles champion, whitewashed Christine Arellano, 11-0, 11-0, in the round of 32, ripped Karla Lizardo, 11-3, 11-9, in the round of 16, trounced Jovalyn Cabañero, 11-0, 11-5, before thwarting third ranked Janina Paredes, 11-1, 13-10, in the semifinals.
It was a sweet revenge win over Paredes, who beat her last year. But sweeter was her victory over Guerrero, who overpowered her in the semifinals two years ago on the same court.
But Velez’s stirring triumph didn’t come easy. In fact, while girls her age were busy playing with their stuff toys and computer games, Velez toiled in tournaments as an 11-year-old, persevered and rewarded with such achievements as winner of the various local competitions, including the Batang Pinoy, Palarong Pambansa, PNG, the first three Manila Youth Games, the Toby’s age-group championships and the JVC-sponsored tournaments.
But Velez, a first-year high school student at St. Paul College, Pasig and playing out of Valle Verde Country Club-Asuncion Badminton Center, credited her mentor Nelson Asuncion, former head coach of the RP team, for her ascent to the top of the ladies’ juniors’ badminton rankings.