Prep Wednesday : SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS : Badminton : Buena Park Gains Berth in 4-A Final

Buena Park High School’s badminton team earned its seventh Southern Section finals berth in nine years Tuesday by scoring a 14-5 victory over Alhambra in the 4-A semifinals at Buena Park.

The Coyotes (19-0) were ahead, 2-1, after mixed doubles play, then won all eight of their singles matches and all four of their girls’ doubles matches to seal the victory. Alhambra is 16-2.

Buena Park (19-0), which won 3-A championships in 1982 and 1983 before moving to 4-A in 1984, will play Nogales in Thursday’s 4-A final at Walnut High at 6 p.m.

Noy Sundara (35-1), Buena Park’s top girls’ player, was particularly impressive as she used a series of deftly placed shots to defeat Christine Chuang, 11-5, 12-10, and Teresa Truong, 11-0, 11-2. She also teamed with Chulki Song, the Coyotes’ leading boys’ player, to defeat Johnson Liu and Chuang in mixed doubles play, 15-6, 3-15, 15-7.

Song (33-1) also was impressive in singles play. In his first singles match, he fought off a strong challenge from Arcadia’s Tom Kao to score a 15-9, 18-14 victory. Later, he defeated James Chiang, 15-2, 15-1.

Buena Park also got two singles victories each from Tam Le and Ekachai Sriphakdee. Le defeated Chuang, 12-11, 11-4, and Truong, 11-6, 11-4, in girls’ singles matches, while Sriphakdee defeated Kao, 15-10, 15-4, and Chiang, 15-9, 15-10, in boys’ singles play.

Sriphakdee also teamed with Da Sundara, Noy’s cousin, to defeat Chiang and Mang Lam in mixed doubles competition, 8-15, 17-16, 15-10.

In girls’ doubles play, sisters Da and Dewee Sundara defeated Diana Truong and Mang Lam, 15-13, 15-2, and Rosa Hu and Kim Chau, 15-8, 15-8, while Eva Phan and Sandy Chun defeated Truong and Lam, 15-11, 15-2, and Hu and Chau, 17-15, 15-7.