Badminton: NMI players advance to quarterfinals

THE NMI could only place fourth in the badminton team event of the 2022 Pacific Mini Games, but several of its  members now have a shot at winning individual medals.

In  the mixed doubles event, the NMI’s Nathan Guerrero and Janelle Pangilinan defeated Wallis & Futuna and the Solomon Islands.

Against Wallis & Futuna’s Julien Dauptain and Leilana Likuvalu, Guerrero and Pangilinan played aggressively and aimed for quick shots to win the first set, 21-14.

In the second set, Dauptain and Likuvalu tried to turn the tables and stood their ground for consecutive exchanges with the  NMI. But Guerrero and Pangilinan managed to regain momentum and won 21-16 to advance to round 2.

Against the Solomon Islands’ Rodney Vaka and Emma Soaki, Guerrero and Pangilinan were relentless and victorious, 21-9, 21-7.

Today, Friday, June 24, the NMI will face the favored duo of Remi Rossi and Melissa Mi You of Tahiti.

“We worked really hard in preparing for these games both physically and mentally so it’s nice that we are putting up a good fight in this tournament,” Nathan Guerrero told Variety.

Regarding strategy, he said they prefer to attack first, “because it’s really hard to score on just defense. Keep our defense tight when they’re on the attack and make sure we understand that we won’t win every point, but we’re also going to move forward and try to score.”

In the men’s singles, the NMI’s Ezekiel Macario faced the Solomon Islands’ Joseph Taupiri.

Taupiri had a very strong start as he bested Macario by a comfortable margin, 21-12.

In the second set, however, Taupiri failed to deliver the final blow which allowed Macario to rally and triumph, 23-21, to force a third and final set.

Macario sustained his momentum to claim the final win against Taupiri.

Today, Friday, Macario will face Tahiti’s Remi Rossi.

In the women’s singles, the NMI Michaella Serrano also stood tall after two consecutive wins.

She first defeated Wallis & Futuna’s Leilana Likuvalu, 21-10, 21-8 before dispatching the Solomon Islands’ Norah Meke, 21-10, 21-4.

In the women’s doubles, the NMI’s Jeanelyn Cardinio and Mikamaika Serrano will face Tahiti’s Hortensia Manzanal and Waianunea Teheura Friday for a seat in the semifinal round while Guerrero and Macario will go up against Tahiti’s Glen Le Foll and Kyliam Scilloux in the men’s doubles.

It was Tahiti that won the gold in the team event on  Wednesday.

Published by Marianas Variety – Jun 24, 2022