Orange County Draws a Blank

For the first time in four years, Orange County athletes failed to win at least one title at the Southern Section individual badminton championships Saturday night at the Orange County Badminton Club.

“I think this is a down year for Orange County,” said Garden Grove Coach Vicki Toutz. “Hopefully, we’ll do better in the team tournament.”

Of the eight seeded competitors, only two made it to the finals. Both were swept.

In girls’ singles, Garden Grove’s Cynthia Tran, the top-seeded player who had a 48-0 record, was upset in the finals by Alhambra’s Stella Ng, 11-5, 11-6. Tran’s last loss came to Ng last year in the quarterfinals.

Tran, a junior, had a tough semifinal match against El Monte Arroyo’s Cherry Lai. That left her drained for her match against second-seeded Ng. Against Lai, Tran lost the first game, 11-1, before rallying to win the match, 11-8, 11-7.

“She is a very good player,” Tran said of Ng. “Her shots are perfected. I’m an endurance player. But since her shots were so well placed, I couldn’t get to them.”

Said Toutz of Tran, “She was so exhausted and she was crying when it was over. But she should be so proud of what she accomplished this year.”

In the boys’ doubles final, Ocean View’s Puong Vo and Huy Le, seeded second, lost to top-seeded Binh Tran and Nelson Chu of Alhambra Keppel, 15-10, 15-9.

Of the three matches the Ocean View players lost, two were to Tran and Chu.

“I think they were a little intimidated by Keppel,” Ocean View Coach Todd Aubin said of Vo and Le. “They could have played better, but I’m happy.”

Vo and Le, both seniors, admitted they were wary going into the final.

“We tried to pick on the big guy [Chu],” Vo said. “But, the skinny guy [Tran] is too good. He is very accurate on his shots.”

Garden Grove’s Tam Nguyen, seeded third, lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Hoang Bui of Long Beach Wilson, 15-4, 15-10.

In girls’ singles, Ocean View’s Danijela Mijacevic upset third-seeded Karen Tung of Rowland Heights Rowland, 10-12, 12-9, 11-4, in the quarterfinals. Mijacevic lost in the semifinals to Ng, 11-6, 11-1.

Magnolia’s Jennifer Cabuhat and Ing Phansavath upset fourth-seeded Jamie Kong and Chhai Chorn of Garden Grove, 15-9, 1-15, 3-0, in the quarterfinals of girls’ doubles. But they lost to Long Beach Wilson’s Sara Vang and Sophy Chung in the semifinals, 11-15, 15-5, 15-1.