Barredo, Castilo duel for Open crown

MANILA, Philippines - Second seed Sarah Barredo of Smash Pilipinas and Gelita Castilo of Allied Victor bundled out their respective rivals yesterday to arrange an interesting showdown for the women’s Open singles crown in the P1.5 million Bingo Bonanza National Open badminton tournament at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Center.

A day after pulling off a shock 21-17, 24-22 victory over fancied and Allied Victor spearhead Malvinne Alcala, the 15-year-old Barredo sustained her impressive form and overpowered Mary Ann Maranon of Allied Victor, 21-11, 21-18, to advance to the championship round of the centerpiece division of the tournament sponsored by Bingo Bonanza and organized by EventKing Corp.

For her first crack at the National Open crown, Barredo will take on another Allied Victor mainstay Castilo, who likewise kept the momentum of her big reversal of top seed Airah Albo in the second round and dominated third seed Pauline Tan, 21-10, 21-8, in their side of the semis clash in the top-ranking event sanctioned by the Philippine Badminton Association.

Barredo actually finished second behind Wang Lily of China in the Smart Invitational Cup last August.

“I almost won the Smart Cup last August but I lost in three sets to Wang (Lily),” said Barredo, winner of the 17- and 19-U titles in this year’s Philippine National Games.

“Hopefully, I could win one this time,” added Barredo, whose mother, Teresita, is an employee of the Philippine Sports Commission.

Ranged against Castilo in today’s finals starting at 1 p.m., Barredo hopes to reassert her mastery over her 20-year-old rival, whom she beat in the quarters of the Smart Cup.

“I made her (Castilo) run the last time we played. I hope I could do that again,” said Barredo, also a Palarong Pambansa gold medalist.

On the other hand, Castilo, a Hotel Restaurant Management freshman at FEU, is out for a payback not only for her Smart Cup loss but also for teammates Alcala and Maranon’s losses to the second-seeded ace.