INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - Running into her first foreign foe in the tournament, top Filipina ladies singles player Malvinne Ann Venice Alcala was left completely overwhelmed and joined the country’s lone men’s doubles bet in a march to the exit Friday in the Bingo Bonanza Philippine Grand Prix Gold badminton championships.

Alcala, the youngest player here at 13, was visibly out of her league against world No. 13 and tournament fourth seed Jiang Yanjiao of China, 21-5, 21-16, to bow out of the quarterfinals before a big crowd at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.

At the adjacent court, Filipino teenagers Kelvin Panganiban and Gabriel Villanueva gave it their all but still fell short against Indonesian top seeds Mohammad Ahsan and Bona Septano, 21-8, 21-9, in the men’s doubles quarterfinals.

That left the hometown crowd cheering for the veteran pair of Indonesians Tri Kusharjanto and Minarti Timur, who were playing China’s Zhang Nan and Lu Lu at presstime.

Timur, a popular long-time resident of Manila, now plays for the Philippines.

Last Thursday, Kusharjanto and Timur toppled top seeds Yohan Hadiskusumo Wiratama and Chau Hoi Wah of Hong Kong, 18-21, 21-11, 21-13, to reach the mixed doubles quarterfinal round.

A big crowd turned out to support Alcala, who forged the battle against Jiang by booting out two compatriots. Right at the start, however, she didn’t look at ease. She was nursing colds and, at one time, called for a timeout to blow her nose.

Her game wasn’t in great shape, either. She dropped the first seven points trying to go for the kill each time Jiang left her with an overhead return.

Jiang, the Busan Asian Games gold medalist, China Open champion and Asian Continental titlist, eased on the gas pedal in the second game, committing mistakes herself as she tried to get into Alcala’s slow pace.

Alcala took advantage by aggressively smashing for points and even led several times, most notably at 9-8 when she flicked a feathery drop shot that delighted the audience into giving her an ovation.

But the teenager, dubbed as Pocahontas because she used to sport long black hair, blew things away by committing one unforced error after another. She only managed to pile up points when Jiang lapsed into errors by flicking drop shots into the net.

Alcala made it to the last eight after a crushing victory over compatriot Camille Krisnin Yang, 21-9, 21-7, while Jiang disposed of Vietnam’s Nguyen Nhung Le Ngoc, 21-13, 21-12.

Local heroes Kennie and Kennevic Asuncion failed to make it past the round of 16 in the mixed doubles Thursday, falling to Chinese Qiu Zihan and Deng Yuting, 19-21, 21-8, 21-16.