SOUTHERN SECTION BADMINTON : O.C. Players Sweep Titles at Championship

When Estancia’s unbeaten mixed doubles team of Chau Nguyen and Doan Nguyen met Alhambra Keppel’s undefeated team of Johnny Le and Nhi Phung in the finals of the Southern Section individual badminton championships Saturday at Cypress College, something had to give.

Le and Phung were coming off a first-place performance in the finals of the junior nationals last month in Colorado Springs and were 34-0 after defeating Garden Grove’s Giao Do and Hanh Vu in the semifinals.

Estancia’s Nguyens, who are not related, knocked off the Keppel pair in the finals, 15-12, 15-6, to lead what turned out to be an Orange County sweep of all categories. The Nguyens improved their record to 41-0 for the season with the victory.

Estancia players won championships in four of the five categories. Buena Park’s Jennifer Chiu completed the county sweep by winning the girls’ singles title. She upset Ocean View’s Anh Loi, 11-5, 11-3, in the semifinals and beat Etiwanda’s Amelia Duran 11-7, 11-7, in the final.

“I played my game today,” said Chiu, whose record is 49-7. “I just had a feeling inside (that said) ‘I can do this.’ ”

Chau Nguyen improved to 50-2 as he captured the boys’ singles championship by defeating Keppel’s Le, 15-9, 15-7, in the final. Nguyen beat Garden Grove’s Sang Kim, 17-14, 20-17, in the semifinals.

Estancia’s boys’ doubles team of Danh Nguyen and Linh Doan beat Keppel’s David Wei and Calvin Ho, 15-7, 15-4, for the championship after defeating Santa Ana’s Tung Tang and Hung Tang, 15-13, 15-11, in the semifinals. The Estancia pair is 13-0 since joining forces this season.

The Estancia girls’ doubles team of Doan Nguyen and Concha Gil gave retiring Coach Lillian Branbander a final victory by beating Keppel’s Christina Low and Nhi Phung 7-15, 15-5, 18-13, for the championship.