INDIVIDUAL BADMINTON : Injury Spoils Nguyen’s Bid for the Title, Record Books

Estancia’s Doan Nguyen had a chance to make Southern Section history Saturday in the finals of the individual badminton championships at Cypress College.

But Nguyen’s bid to become the first to win a championship in the same event for four consecutive years started unraveling when she collapsed with a severe leg cramp early in the finals of the mixed doubles.

Nguyen, a senior, and her partner Linh Doan were trailing, 0-2, when her left leg seized up. Play was resumed 10 minutes later, but Nguyen was limping badly.

A victory over top-seeded Alhambra Mark Keppel’s Johnny Le and Nhi Phung, who won, 15-2, 15-9, would have been difficult under any circumstances. Le and Phung (43-0) were runners-up in the consolation bracket of this year’s 19-and-under national juniors championship.

“I’m sort of disappointed in myself,” Nguyen said. “In four years of play, I’ve never had a cramp.”

Nguyen and Esther Viramontes held off a challenge from Westminster’s Mai Ho and Thao Tran, 15-11, 18-17, to win the girls’ doubles 15 minutes before the start of the mixed doubles.

But Nguyen said a scheduling change that moved the quarterfinals to the same day as the semifinals and finals also played a role.

“Actually, the quarterfinals were set for yesterday, but they were put off until today,” Nguyen said. “It had a lot of effect.”

Nguyen, who won the mixed doubles championship with Hoang Le during her freshman and sophomore years and with Chau Nguyen last year, wasn’t the only one troubled by leg cramps in the sweltering Cypress women’s gym.

Costa Mesa’s Linda Luong had a cramp in her left leg in the second round of her girls’ singles title match against San Marino’s top-seeded Lily Chen.

Luong had dropped the first game, 11-5, but she led, 8-6, when the match was interrupted. Chen (48-0) went on to take the second round, and the match, 11-9. Luong finished her senior season at 46-5.

Earlier in the semifinals, Chen defeated Buena Park’s Jennifer Chiu, the defending girls’ singles champion, 11-5, 6-11, 11-4.

“I couldn’t do the things I wanted to do,” Luong said. “But (Chen) is really tough. I started having trouble with my ankle in the semis, then it was my whole leg.”

Nguyen’s teammate Doan also had a match cut short in the semifinals because of a leg cramp.

After losing to Keppel’s Le, 18-16, in the first game of the boys’ singles semifinals, Doan had to forfeit while trailing, 8-0, when he was unable to continue.

Garden Grove’s mixed doubles team of Giao Do and Hanh Vu also reached the semifinals before losing to Keppel’s Le and Phung, 20-17, 15-7.

The La Habra girls’ doubles team of Stephanie Pfeiffer and Staci Murguia reached the semifinals before losing to Nguyen and Viramontes, 15-9, 15-8.