Players hunt titles at Solo Badminton today

On Friday saw quarterfinal action on day two of the competition in the men’s singles category. Corey Fanus (Barbados), Naim Mohammed, Alistair Espinoza and Will Lee all advanced to the semifinal round with straight set victories.

Fanus outlasted Nathaniel Khillawan, Mohammed got past Dakeil Thorpe (Barbados), Espinoza defeated Mackenzie Legen and Lee got the better of Sheraz Nabbie. All four men were scheduled to play yesterday in the semifinals with Fanus playing Espinoza and Mohammed facing Lee.

Most of the women began their competition on Friday night, as six of the 10 women had byes to the second round. Number one seed FMT’s Leanna Castanada outscored Ralitsa Wong 21-18 21-16 and Avril Plaza Marcelle (Fins) defeated Anita Mahadeo (Regal Smashers) 21- 8, 21-10. The second seed Solangel Guzman (Shuttleforce) had too much fire power for Eban Sandy, beating her 21-12, 21-0, while Jada Renales pulled off a 21-9, 21-7 result against FMT’s Ariel Gomez.

The highlight of Thursday’s opening night was the intense battle between Mohammed (Cristars) seeded 3/4 and the top Under-19 junior player Renaldo Sinanan (FMT). Both men were pushed to their limit as they struggled to gain an advantage in the match. Mohammed lived up to his seeding as he finally put away the talented youngster in a 20-22, 21-10, 25-23 win. Mohammed had an easier time progressing to the second round as he defeated his opponent Sarajudeen Mohammed 21-7, 21-14.

The number one seed failed to advance out of the round of 32 on the opening night.

Roger Moore from Cristars, the number one seeded player in the tournament, was beaten in three sets by junior player Khillawan (Shuttleforce) 21-13, 12-21, 21-13.

Khillawan progressed to the quarterfinals as he completed a very good night by defeating Jewhel Smith 21- 11, 21-20.