The562’s coverage of Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored bythe Cohn Family.
The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
The562’s coverage of Jordan Athletics is sponsored by former LBUSD superintendent Chris Steinhauser.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial.
This Long Beach badminton recap is compiled from submissions.
Cabrillo vs. Lakewood
Defending Moore League Champion Cabrillo scored a dominant win Thursday over visiting Lakewood, 18-3.
The Jaguars began the evening by sweeping the first round of Mixed Doubles play and never looked back.
Cabrillo’s Boys’ Singles player Brian Habacon remained undefeated both in Boys’ Singles and Mixed Doubles, extending his record in both disciplines to 8-0.
Lakewood’s Boys’ Doubles pair of Richie Chhit and Jacob Vong added to their copy book season by vanquishing both of Cabrillo’s pairs. The Lancers’ second duo of Andrew Heang and Anthony Heang provided some excitment by stretching the Jaguar’s Chrissangel Gomez and Jomari Pidenis before losing 21-18, 21-23, 21-18. The Heangs then fell in a three-setter to Joaquin Orozco and Aiden Reyes, 13-21, 21-13, 21-17.
Cabrillo’s girls, who endured a rough night against Poly two days prior, thoroughly redeemed themselves against Lakewood. Singles players Jasmin Ramos and Cyril Dela Torre, along with the Doubles pairs of Jaylene Ramirez Diaz/Maria Buenviaje and Suki Yem/Encarnation Fernandez dominated their Lancer opponents in straight sets in all eight of their matches. Ramos, Diaz, and Buenviaje also contributed to the Cabrillo sweep of Mixed Doubles.
Cabrillo visits Jordan on March 20 to close out their first round of league play.
Subscribe to the562 on GiveButter to make a recurring donation and keep Long Beach sports coverage free!
Wilson vs. Jordan
Wilson defeated visiting Jordan, 16-5.
The star of Wilson’s lineup, Abhishek Jain, made quick work of Jordan’s Boys’ Singles players Chanvatana Puthy and Jacob Bezon, 21-6, 21-7 and 21-6, 21-4 respectively. Jain, the league’s reigning Boys’ Singles champion, finished his first round of league play 9-1, a loss to Brian Abacon of Cabrillo being the only blemish on his otherwise spotless record. Puthy, the most successful of the Panthers this season, recovered to win his second Singles match against the Bruins.
Wilson’s Boys’ Doubles pair of Axel Perez and Matthew Marquez defeated Jordan’s Sokara Pung and Rogelio Roman but dropped their other Doubles game to Jordan’s Elijah Martinez and Bruce Tap-Keo. Martinez and Tap-Keo won both of their contests for the Panthers. Boys’ Doubles was the strong spot in the Jordan lineup Tuesday, with Pung and Roman taking a third win for Jordan.
Wilson coach Adrian Marquez, who once coached the Panthers but has led the Bruins for the past seven seasons, was favorably impressed by Jordan’s boys.
“They have a good amount of boys with a lot of potential,” Marquez said.
Alexis Herrera, playing Singles against the Panthers, led the Bruin girls with a sweep of her matches. Wilson’s Singles and Doubles girls won all of their contests.
Jordan fielded a team of only ten players and forfeited two matches.
Wilson hosts Lakewood on March 26.
Poly vs. Arcadia
Facing a gap in the Moore League schedule, Poly filled its dance card with a home match against Arcadia on Thursday. The Apaches, two time CIF Open Division Champions and finalists each of the past five years, proved to be an immovable object for the Jackrabbits, winning 20-1.
Arcadia mobilized all their forces for the evening, using 21 different players. No Apache played more than one event. Nonetheless, Arcadia swept all but one contest.
Poly could take some comfort in the face that they at least scored double digits in 20 of their 21 matches. The Jackrabbits stretch several of those contests to three sets.
Poly’s singular victory was by far the most exciting match of the night. Senior Nick Jensen defeated Ty Hao, Arcadia’s second #2 player of the evening, in an extremely tight three set contest, 17-21, 21-17, 22-20. Jensen held a three-point advantage at 18 in the third game before Hao had a run of four unanswered points to take the lead. With the score tied at 20, Jensen forced errors from Hao in the final two rallies to win 22-20.
Arcadia won the evening’s other thriller. Girls’ Singles player Anya Lai fought off Poly’s Soki Phay 15-21, 21-14, 21-17. The Apache’s Austin Lu defeated Danny Lam 21-19, 20-22, 21-8 in the other three set match. Polt hosts Mira Costa, their second non-league opponent of the season, on March 19.
