INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines--The country's mixed doubles pair of Greg Paz and Gelli Ramos bailed out the host contingent by salvaging a bronze medal after toppling heavily favored Thailand Friday in the 14th Asean Schools badminton championships at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

The RP tandem, who started playing as a team only last week, bested Thais Siripong Ketwon and Thunphukkanan Ampunsuwan, 21-16, 21-19, in their quarterfinal match in the morning to secure a medal with an automatic third place finish.

But Indonesia's Muhammad Ulinuha and Della Destara Haris stopped the Filipinos' run in the semifinals, winning, 21-12, 21-7.

It was the first time the Philippines won a medal in the tough Philippine Sports Commission-organized tournament featuring the up-and-coming shuttlers from some of the strongest countries in the sport.

"We really tried to fight because we know that we are carrying the Philippine flag," said Paz, 17, a food service management freshman at the Marikina Polytechnic College, who was competing in his first international tournament like Ramos.

"They (the opposition) were very tough. This is a blessing for us,"said the 16-year-old Ramos, a Perpetual-Binan student from Victoria, Laguna.

The rest of their teammates fell by the wayside, however.

Filipino main man Joper Escueta bowed out fighting to the end, dealing his world-ranked Thai foe Pollawat Boonpan with a first-game win before dropping a 19-21, 21-15, 24-22 decision in the boys' singles quarterfinals.

Escueta had three match points in the third game against the cocky Thai who incurred two warnings from the umpire. But the visitor proved stronger down the stretch for the 14-year-old sophomore from Colegio Monterey de Pila, Laguna.

Malaysia's Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin crushed the country's other boys' singles bet, Peter Gabriel Magnaye, 21-13, 21-10.

Magnaye paired with brother Patrique Francisco in the boys' doubles and lost to Indonesia's Muhammad Ulinuha and Rendy Sugiarto, 21-12, 21-17.

Abigail Marie Garcia and Danica Bolos crashed out in the girls' doubles following a 21-8, 21-9 loss to Malaysia's Lim Ee Von and Ng Hui Ern.

Coaches Ronald Magnaye and Lloyd Escoses later praised the spirited stand by the national youngsters who were picked from different clubs and schools in the country.

Paz and Ramos dictated the match throughout against the Thais, posting 11-7 leads in both sets to pull away for good. But they lost steam against the Indonesians, who sized them up in the first set and then easily finished them off in the next frame.

"Parang naubos po kami kasi malakas din yung Thailand (It looked like we ran out of gas, because Thailand was also a tough assignment)," said Ramos.