Out & About: Harding/South

#2 posting 5.2.2007
your daily dose of badminton news & information

ST. PAUL HARDING knights 7
MINNEAPOLIS SOUTH tigers 0

South is tied for the Minneapolis city lead and they went east to Harding to face the leaders in St. Paul. And it was a Hard Days Knight for the Tigers as Harding swept in convincing fashion. Harding won all matches 2-0 and the closest any South player got was at third doubles with Melissa Ng/Jane Olmsted-Rumsey getting 15 points in the second game against Mor Xiong/Mai Ngia Xiong.
After the contest both teams shared food in a pot luck feed.

FIRST SINGLES
Pang Thao put on a solid performance at first singles holding Bee Xiong to only one point off a Xiong serve. Thao forced five side outs of the six Xiong serves. It was the runs Thao had on her third and sixth serve that broke the game open. Thao had three straight points with drives to make it 8-2. On Thao's sixth serve she ran off six straight to make it 17-5. On point 13 Thao had a back hand cut for a point.

In game two Thao started off with a 4-0 run. Then Xiong ran off four to tie the game. Xiong took an 8-7 lead on a soft drive side out on Thao's serve. Thao broke the game open with six straight on her sixth serve (again) to go up 16-9. The last five were all off Xiong hitting errors. Xiong closed to 16-11, but Thao got the side out on a tight waterfall drop. Somewhere along the line Thao wasn't given a point because when the dust had settled I had Thao winning 22-12.

Thao's footwork and balance put her at an advantage throughout the match. Xiong was having to cover more of the court.

SIDEOUTS:
Thao 9/13 .692; Xiong .400
SERVE RUNS:
Thao 6 (longest 6); Xiong 1 (3)
POINTS:
Thao 43* (my charting). Winners 23: Drives 12 (2 soft, 1 handcuff); Drops 4, Smashes 3; Aces 2; Cuts 1; Clears 1
Xiong Errors 20: hitting 17 (wide 9, Net 8); Serving 3 (Deep 1, Wide 1, Net 1)
Xiong 19: Winners 6: Drives 3 (2 soft); Drop 1; Smash 1, Clear 1
Thao Errors 13: hitting 13 (Wide 7, Net 6)
TIME: 12:23

THIRD SINGLES
Stephanie King had big runs on her second and fourth serve in her win over CeCe Durney. King had 8 points on her second serve. Again at the fourth serve King had another run of seven.

King started the second game with an ace in which Durney took a tumble. King didn't start her big run in this game until serve three with nine straight points. A missed serve gave the bird back to Durney. King had a bird driven right at her and her defensive reaction saved the point on point 19.

SIDEOUTS:
King 8/10 .800; Durney 3/11 .273
SERVE RUNS:
King 3 (longest 9); Durney: none
POINTS:
King 42: Winners 26: Drives 7 (handcuffs 2, back hand 1); Clears 5; Drops 5; Aces 4; smashes 4; cut 1
Durney Errors 16: hitting 14 (Net 9, Wide 4, Deep 1); Serving 2 (Net 2)
Durney 11: Winners 3: Drives 3
King Errors 8: hitting 5 (Net 2, Wide 2, Deep 1); Serves 3 (Wide 2, Net 1)
TIME: 11:11

SINGLES
1. Pang Thao (H) def Bee Xiong 21-7, 21-12
2. Mee Xiong (H) def. Ma Xiong 21-8, 21-8
3. Stephanie King (H) def CeCe Durney 21-5, 21-6
4. Kazoua Yang (H) def Jessia Jolson 21-14, 21-7
DOUBLES
1. Dia Xiong/PaNhia Yang (H) def Karen Perault-Boughton/Jackie Heslop 21-9, 21-11
2. Pa Yang/Nalee Xiong (H) def Katherine McQuarter/Rachel Mamen 21-13, 21-10
3. Mor Xiong/Mai Ngia Xiong (H) def Melissa Ng/Jane Olmsted-Rumsey 21-10, 21-15

BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: Harding 4-0
Games: Harding 8-0
Points: Harding 168-67 .715
decided by 10+: Harding 6-0
decided by 3 or less: none
DOUBLES
Matches: Harding 3-0
games: Harding 6-0
points: Harding 126-68 .649
decided by 10+: Harding 4-0
decided by 3: none

South will play Henry tomorrow at South. If South wins they will be the city champ by virtue of their two wins over Edison.

Next up: tomorrow morning