Barredo rolls into Bingo Bonanza semis

MANILA, Philippines - Top seed Sarah Joy Barredo continued to dish out top form and dismantled Jochelle Alvarez, 21-13, 21-14, to arrange a semifinal showdown with fellow PBA Smash Pilipinas bet Angelique Ramos in the Open women’s singles of the Bingo Bonanza National Open Badminton Tournament at the CW Home Depot Ortigas in Pasig yesterday.

Barredo unloaded smashes and complemented her solid attacking game with superb defense to ease out Alvarez in 30 minutes and move two wins from retaining the crown she won over Nicole Albo in last year’s staging of the annual top-ranking tournament sponsored by Bingo Bonanza.

But she expects a tougher challenge from Ramos, who dominated fourth seed Charmane Salvador, 21-9, 21-7, in the Last 16 then held off Mika Aquino, 21-16, 21-15, to seal a duel with Barredo.

But focus will be on the other two semifinalists in the lower half of the draw as UP’s Malvinne Alcala and Bianca Carlos of Ateneo sustained their hot charge to force an interesting duel for the other finals slot in the P1.5 million championship backed by official equipment Victor PCOME and SM Megamall, Smash Pilipinas and the Philippine Olympic Committee.

Alcala, who used to dominate local badminton in her junior years, booted out second seed Mariya Sevilla, 21-11, 19-21, 21-6, in the Last 16 late Thursday then routed Jellene De Vera, 21-10, 21-12, to set up a Final Four duel with Carlos.

Not to be outdone, Carlos, a former national champion, also upended third seed Albo, 21-16, 21-10, in the second round then toppled Golden Shuttle Foundation’s Mikaela Joy de Guzman, 21-19, 21-10, in the quarters.

That should make today’s matches worth watching as action shifts to SM Megamall for the semis and the finals tomorrow, which also features top notch matches in the men’s singles, the men’s and women’s doubles and the mixed doubles.