Toby Gadi, Paul Vivas lead faves’ solid binge
MANILA, Philippines—Toby Gadi and Paul Vivas hacked out a pair of 30-minute romps to launch their campaign in the men’s Open singles of the VP Binay Grand Prix Badminton Open Championships-PBaRS fourth leg Monday at Powersmash in Makati.
Bianca Carlos, Elisha Ongcuangco and Malvinne Alcala also breezed through their opening matches in the girls’ Under-19 class.
Gadi finished off a tough Kevin Alcantara, 21-10, 21-18, to kick off his bid for a sweep of the four leg titles in the P1-million national ranking tournament co-presented by MVP Sports Foundation and Robinsons Land.
The second-seeded Vivas outsteadied Allen del Mundo, 21-15, 21-18, to start his own drive in the lower half of the 128-player draw.
Andrei Babad posted the first reversal, stunning No. 7 Ariel delos Santos, 21-17, 25-23, to forge a third-round clash with Arthur Espiritu, who subdued Christian Torres, 21-18, 21-13.
Third seed Gabriel Magnaye made short work of Reden Cuden, 21-6, 21-8; No. 4 Joper Escueta held off Ramon Dalo, 22-20, 21-14; No. 5 Wilfred Natividad downed Angelo Ticala, 21-9, 21-6; No. 6 Jaime Junior Jr. won by default over Jaime Villanueva, No. 8 Kevin Dalisay survived Jon Masongsong, 21-18, 16-21, 21-10; No. 9 Carlos Cayanan defused Patricque Magnaye, 21-17, 21-16; and No. 10 Charlo Tengco toppled Vince Tan, 21-15, 21-9.
Carlos, also eyeing a U-19 sweep, bested Thea Pomar, 21-9, 21-11, and will next face Ingrid Obnial, who tripped Caitlin Yu, 21-7, 21-6.
The No. 2 Ongcuango routed Aliya Castillo, 21-1, 21-1, to set up a duel with Flo Lamigo, a 21-10, 21-12 winner over Pebbles Lee.
Reigning Singapore and Australian Juniors champion Alcala gained the third round with a 21-9, 21-9 romp over Mitzel Buiza.
