Garden Grove Beats Diamond Bar in Division I

The girls led the way for Garden Grove badminton Tuesday, winning seven of their eight matches and leading the Argonauts to a 13-6 victory over Diamond Bar in the Southern Section Division I badminton semifinals at Garden Grove.

The second-seeded Argonauts (18-0) will face top-seeded Alhambra Keppel, which has won six of the last seven section titles, in the final Thursday at the Orange County Badminton Club.

The No. 2 doubles team of Chhai Chorn and Jamie Kong put the match away with a 15-3, 15-1 victory over Diamond Bar’s No. 1 team of Alicia King and Jane Hsieh, giving Garden Grove a 10-4 lead.

“Jamie cried so hard last year when we lost in the quarterfinals,” Chorn said. “I just wanted to make it up to her this year.”

Chorn and Kong also defeated the Brahmas’ No. 2 team of Robyn Young and Wendy Lee, 15-7, 15-5. Garden Grove’s No. 1 doubles team, Tina Lam and Rosie Pham, also swept.

In girls’ singles, Garden Grove’s Cynthia Tran improved her overall record to 54-2 by defeating Ling Yin, 11-0, 11-4, and Lily Liu, 11-3, 11-4. Sophomore Nancy Nguyen also was impressive, beating Yin, 11-4, 11-9, after losing to Liu, 6-11, 4-11.

Tam Nguyen was the only boy to sweep for the Argonauts, defeating Aaron Ow-Yeang, 15-6, 18-15, and Alex Tien, 15-1, 15-3, in singles.

In Division II matches:

Loara 11, Azusa 8--Mike Chove and Kite Lam swept in No. 1 doubles, winning 15-6, 15-1 and 15-6, 5-0, and Sothea Kite won in boys’ singles, 15-10, 15-12 and 15-4, 8-15, 15-8 for second-seeded Loara (16-3).

Long Beach Wilson 10, Century 9--Century’s Hendy Yayha defeated Southern Section boys’ champion Kevin Bui, 15-7, 15-9, but fourth-seeded Century couldn’t pull off the upset of No. 1 Wilson. Century finished 17-2.