SAMANTHA Ramos and Marina Caculitan forged upsets at the start of the MVP Sports Foundation-Philippine Badminton Ranking System (PBaRS) circuit at the Metro Sports Center in Lahug, Cebu City yesterday.
Ramos, a Golden Shuttle Foundation mainstay, outlasted fifth seed Janelle de Vera of Whackers-Lining, 21-14, 17-21, 21-13, to advance to the second round of the girls’ Under-19 singles against Univ. of San Carlos’ Rosalinda Silawan, who repulsed Camille Gotohio, 15-21, 22-20, 21-18.
Caculitan, on the other hand, stamped her class against GSF No. 4 Shaina Osorio, 21-7, 21-9, also in U-19 class of the event sponsored by GOAL Pilipinas and serving as the kickoff leg of a three-stage circuit.
The fancied bets, however, rolled past their rivals in the other divisions of the event, organized by the Philippine Badminton Association headed by Vice President Jejomar Binay, with Valiant Badminton Club’s Jornellous Castro and Joma Castro posting straight-set wins over Ryan Fernandez, 21-15, 21-9, and Maverick Perez, 21-12, 21-13, to reach the second of the men’s Open singles.