Villa Park Moves to Head of Badminton Class

Garden Grove’s dominance in Orange County badminton officially came to an end Thursday when Villa Park beat the Argonauts, 10-9, in a nonleague match at Garden Grove.

It was the final match between Villa Park’s Mike Chansawangpuvana and Garden Grove’s Trong Nguyen in boys’ singles that decided the outcome.

Chansawangpuvana, a freshman, battling through leg cramps, took the first game, 15-10, and then shut out Nguyen, 15-0, winning the only boys’ match for Villa Park (5-0).

“That was so exciting,” Villa Park Coach Sherry Smith said. “We knew it was going to come down to the very end.”

The Villa Park girls’ team won all eight of their matches in singles and doubles.

There was no chance in singles for the Argonauts (4-1), whose top player, Jamie Kong, was out with an injured Achilles’ tendon. Amy Nguy and Bonnie Wong dropped only 10 points combined in singles for Villa Park. In girls’ doubles, Cynthia Tran, last year’s Times Orange County Player of the Year, partnered with Rosie Pham, went up against Alison Brown and Casey Peters.

Tran and Pham, trailing 10-6, rallied and tied the score, 14-14, before Brown and Peters closed it out with three consecutive points and a 17-14 victory. Brown and Peters finished them off in the second set, winning 15-6.

The best match in boys’ singles featured Chansawangpuvana against Garden Grove’s Tam Nguyen, last year’s Times Orange County Player of the Year.

Chansawangpuvana took the first game, 15-11, and rallied from a 9-2 deficit in the second game to pull within 9-7, but eventually lost 15-9. The final game went back and forth before Nguyen ran off a streak of five points and won, 15-7.

“These are the two teams you will see in the Southern Section finals this year,” Garden Grove Coach Prat Mallawong said. “These are the best two teams this year.”