Pineda, Caculitan pull off stunners in PBaRS tourney

MANILA, Philippines - Wild card Andrew Pineda stunned top seed Lorenzo Yason in three while Marina Caculitan upended No. 8 Aldreen Concepcion in straight sets to gain in the Under-19 divisions of the MVP Sports Foundation-Philippine Badminton Ranking System (PBaRS) seventh leg at the Excel Badminton Center in San Fernando, Pampanga yesterday.

Pineda, a Team Prima mainstay who booted out two rivals in emphatic fashions to gain a crack at Yason, recovered from a second set meltdown and outplayed the fancied CKSM/JLTC bet in the decider to carve out a 21-17, 13-21, 21-15 victory and move into the last 16 of the boys’ U-19 class.

He will next face No. 10 Joshua Monterubio, who topped Diego Nealega, 21-14, 21-7, even as second seed Clarence Filart blasted Adrian Rigonan, 21-15, 21-8, in the lower half of the draw in the event sponsored by MVP Sports Foundation and backed by Victor, exclusively distributed in the Philippines by PCOME Industrial Salves, Inc.

No. 6 Christian Cuyno survived Patrick Gecosala, 24-22, 17-21, 21-5, to join Pineda, Monterubio and Filart in the next round along with Roslee Pedrosa, Erick Sola, Jerickson Oba-ob, No. 5 Kyle Gosiaco, Bryan Garrido, Christian Uy, Armand Manlalangit, Alvin Morada, No. 4 Jon Masongsong, Keeyan Gabuelo, John Santos and Vincent Manuel.

Caculitan, on the other hand, turned back Concepcion, 21-18, 21-18, to likewise advance to the last 16 in the girls’ U-19 of the five-day event sanctioned by the Philippine Badminton Association headed by Vice President Jejomar Binay with sportsman Manny V. Pangilinan as chairman and Rep. Albee Benitez as sec-gen.

Top seed Bianca Carlos yielded just three points to oust Reina Margas while No. 2 Patrisha Malibiran stormed past Kate Tating to lead the fancied bets’ surge, also in the girls Under-19 class.

Carlos, seeking to defend her twin titles, hardly worked out a sweat in disposing of Margas, 21-1, 21-2, while Malibiran slowed down in the second frame but cruised to a 21-4, 21-18 victory just the same.

Third seed Ma. Victoria Vizmonte joined them in the next round with a 21-10, 21-13 romp over Mikaela Aquino.