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Payyak Overcomes His Share of Bad Breaks : Badminton: The Corona del Mar athlete’s durability, determination is crucial in section team competition.

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SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

A week before the Southern Section individual badminton championships, Jerome Payyak injured his leg in a car accident. Two days before the championships, he broke his racket. The day of the tournament, he used birds that he had played with only once all season. But through it all, he didn’t complain.

“He gives 100%,” Corona del Mar assistant coach Chau Nguyen said. “He doesn’t give excuses.”

Despite the string of bad luck, the junior advanced to the boys’ singles semifinals, losing to eventual champion Jerry Wong of Rosemead.

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Rather than dwell on the what-ifs, Payyak is looking ahead to the Southern Section Division I team semifinals, where the Sea Kings will face defending champion Alhambra Keppel today at Alhambra.

In today’s other semifinal, Garden Grove faces No. 3-seeded La Puente Nogales at La Puente.

“There seems to be more pressure put on you in the team (competition),” Payyak said. “You can win every singles tournament and then lose at CIF and it doesn’t mean a thing. CIF is the final, big tournament. It counts the most.”

For Payyak, there is a better reason to play well today. After being placed on academic probation most of the season, Payyak was reinstated the day before Corona del Mar’s final league match against Century, April 28. Playing singles and mixed doubles, Payyak earned three of the team’s 12 points.

In the Sea Kings’ first two playoff matches, Payyak was undefeated in singles and mixed doubles.

So how important is it for the Sea Kings to have Payyak back in the lineup?

“He’s extremely important. Jerome can control three points with his three wins,” said senior Jason Eggleston, who plays No. 1 boys’ doubles.

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Originally, the consequences of being on academic probation didn’t hit Payyak. In fact, it might have helped the team.

“I think us playing without Jerome made our team that much better because everyone had to play harder,” doubles player Kristy Macfarland said. “We couldn’t count on him winning, but now that he’s back, it’s important for us because we can count on his points.”

While Payyak was on probation, the Sea Kings were undefeated in league play. Payyak trained with Nguyen so he would be able to compete as an individual at the Pacific Coast League championships and the Southern Section championships.

On April 12, Corona del Mar lost its only match of the season to Century.

“When we lost to Century, I knew it was all my fault,” Payyak said. “We need to play as a team and if anyone leaves, it can throw off the whole team.”

Payyak began training seriously with Nguyen, the 1992 Southern Section boys’ singles champion from Estancia, during his sophomore season. Last summer, Nguyen worked with Payyak on his footwork and shot placement.

“His game has improved dramatically since last season,” Nguyen said. “We really worked on his footwork because he’s not the quickest person. We had to get him to move around the court more.”

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Despite his lack of team competitions, Payyak has a 22-2 singles record, winning the boys’ singles title at the league championships and the Alhambra tournament. His only two losses this season have been to Wong at the Southern Section finals and the Alta Loma tournament, where he lost a three-setter to Keppel’s Sandy Tirtadjaja in the singles semifinals, 17-15, 11-15, 15-10.

Payyak defeated Tirtadjaja in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section championships, 15-11, 15-9. Today’s team semifinals will be a rematch.

“I’m motivated to play him,” Payyak said. “I definitely want to beat him again. Everyone knows that Keppel is the team to beat. We have to play our best and see what happens.”

Coach Pat Wilson believes Payyak’s return to the team is the difference between winning and losing for the Sea Kings.

However, against a team as balanced and as strong as Keppel, it might take more than Payyak’s return. The Aztecs, who have a 95-match winning streak, begin the semifinal matchup top-seeded. Before moving up to Division I last season, the Aztecs had won three consecutive Division II team titles.

“Having Payyak back gives us a chance against any good team,” Wilson said, “but we need seven more like him to have a chance against Keppel.”

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Badminton Notes

Pat Wilson says the Sea Kings’ depth has been their biggest strength all season.

“We’re balanced,” Wilson said. “We’ve never been shut out in any category.”

In boys’ doubles, the Sea Kings are led by Tim Wertin and Jason Eggleston. The girls are lead by No. 1 singles player Allysun Turner and the No. 1 doubles team of Kerry Smith and Trina Howard.

However, the team is young and inexperienced compared to Keppel, which has five Southern Section individual finalists.

“Pretty much this is our learning experience,” Chau Nguyen said. “Keppel is a very strong team and they are very serious.”

In the other semifinals, No. 3-seeded Garden Grove will face No. 2-seeded La Puente Nogales. The Argonauts’ biggest strength is their balance.

“We have a strong team and a couple of really elite players,” Argonaut Coach Vicki Toutz said. In singles, the Argonauts are led by junior Judy Pak, the Garden Grove League girls’ singles champion, who is 44-6 this season, and Vil Nonlibuon, who is 40-8 record. Their No. 1 boys’ double team of Dung Chu and David Nguyen are 35-5 this season, and Chu and Pak have compiled a 23-5 record at the No. 1 mixed position.

“We didn’t see (Nogales) in any of the cross-over events this season, so I’m not sure how strong their team is,” Toutz said. “I’m very pleased with the performance of our team so far. They played very well against a tough (Alhambra) team (in the quarterfinals). I think we are peaking at the right time.”

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