#1 posting 5.7.2008
badminton news & information
ST. PAUL CITY FINAL FOUR SET
Top 4 Seeds Advance in Singles
Grand Central in Doubles
Today it was the east side of the river's turn to hold their conference tournament. St. Paul holds their event for two days and there are a few differences with Minneapolis.
1. All singles and doubles teams from each school participate.
2. There is play back, not one and done as in Minneapolis
3. There were almost triple the space available at Arlington for matches.
The big news was in the singles the top four seeds advanced. #1 seed Khoua Xiong of Highland Park received a scare in the quarters from Stephanie King of Harding. Xiong needed three games to advance. She took game one 21-10, lost the next set 21-15, before bouncing back to take game three 21-17
#4 Yer Chang of Central also went three games in her match with Der Xiong of Como Park.
#2 Mee Xiong of Harding beat Crystal Yang of Harding 21-12 and 21-4.
A pair of Johnson players faced each other in the other lower bracket quarterfinal with #3 Goly Yang upending Pang Thao 21-19, 21-13.
In the doubles division all three Central teams advanced to the final four. Joining them will be Arlington pair of Pa Hnia Yang and Kia Her. Oddly enough Co City champs Johnson and Harding failed to land a doubles team in the final four.
SINGLES RESULTS
FIRST ROUND
Olamade Fudahunsi, Johnson beat Kari Finseth, Central 21-11, 21-12
Stephanie King, Harding beat Nhu Richards, Highland Park 21-16, 21-3
Belick Pha, Johnson beat Shoua Moua, Humboldt 21-12, 21-14
Elena Kronmiller, Highland Park beat Dawn Vang, Central 21-8, 21-17
Der Xiong, Como Park beat Cha Her, Arlington 29-27, 21-12
Shide Vang, Humboldt beat KY, Central 21-14, 13-21, 21-17
Yer Yang, Como Park beat Micha Everts, Highland Park 21-10, 21-7
Crystal Yang, Harding beat LL, Arlington 21-17, 21-13
Nou Fang, Como Park beat MDY, Humboldt 21-15, 21-17
Ka Neng Vue, Como Park beat Tina Yang, Arlington 21-17, 21-18
Pang Thao, Johnson beat Novia Josiah, Arlington 23-21, 21-15
Alana Yang, Harding beat SV, Humboldt 21-14, 21-13
SWEET 16
Khoua Xiong, Highland Park beat Olamade Fudahunsi, Johnson 21-10, 21-12
Stephanie King, Harding beat Belick Pha, Johnson 21-10, 21-13
Yer Chang, Central beat Elena Kronmiller, Highland Park 21-19, 16-21, 21-11
Der Xiong, Como Park beat Shide Vang, Humboldt 21-17, 22-20
Mee Xiong, Harding beat Yer Yang, Como Park 21-11, 21-19
Crystal Yang, Harding beat Nou Fang, Como Park 21-10, 21-11
Goly Yang, Johnson beat Ka Neng Vue, Como Park 21-6, 24-22
Pang Thao, Johnson beat Alana Yang, Harding 21-17, 21-19
QUARTERFINALS
Khoua Xiong, Highland Park beat Stephanie King, Harding 21-10, 15-21, 21-17
Yer Chang, Central beat Der Xiong, Como Park 21-19, 16-21, 21-8
Mee Xiong, Harding beat Crystal Yang, Harding 21-12, 21-4
Goly Yang, Johnson beat Pang Thao, Johnson 21-19, 21-13
Doubles featured pool play and they had a point system where the winners advanced. I don't have those results, but the here are the quarterfinals:
DOUBLES QUARTERFINALS
Doua Thao/Da Chang, Central beat Sheng Thao/PC, Johnson 21-11, 21-12
Malinda Xiong/Mai See Xiong, Central beat D/M, Humboldt 21-18, 21-11
Phoua Xiong/Mai Sia Yang, Central beat Kia Thao/Kou Nou Chang, Johnson 21-19, 14-21, 24-22
PH/K, Arlington beat MC/N, Humboldt 21-18, 15-21, 21-17
WHAT I SAW
I saw four full singles matches plus the last two games of the Khoua Xiong/Stephanie King match.
#1 KRONMILLER/VANG (FIRST ROUND)
In the first contest Elena Kronmiller of Highland Park beat Dawn Vang of Central 21-8, 21-17. Kronmiller jumped out to a commanding 12-1 lead. It was hard to come back from such a big hole. The odd fact in game one: Vang sided out at 62.5% (5/8). Kronmiller was even higher at 87.5%.
Game two was a bit more contested with no huge runs. Vang led at 7-6 and held the one point advantage up to 13-12. Kronmiller didn't take the lead for good until she reached 16-14. After that Kronmiller forced Vang to side out her last four serves. Meanwhile Kronmiller squeezed points off her last six serves.
badminton news & information
ST. PAUL CITY FINAL FOUR SET
Top 4 Seeds Advance in Singles
Grand Central in Doubles
Today it was the east side of the river's turn to hold their conference tournament. St. Paul holds their event for two days and there are a few differences with Minneapolis.
1. All singles and doubles teams from each school participate.
2. There is play back, not one and done as in Minneapolis
3. There were almost triple the space available at Arlington for matches.
The big news was in the singles the top four seeds advanced. #1 seed Khoua Xiong of Highland Park received a scare in the quarters from Stephanie King of Harding. Xiong needed three games to advance. She took game one 21-10, lost the next set 21-15, before bouncing back to take game three 21-17
#4 Yer Chang of Central also went three games in her match with Der Xiong of Como Park.
#2 Mee Xiong of Harding beat Crystal Yang of Harding 21-12 and 21-4.
A pair of Johnson players faced each other in the other lower bracket quarterfinal with #3 Goly Yang upending Pang Thao 21-19, 21-13.
In the doubles division all three Central teams advanced to the final four. Joining them will be Arlington pair of Pa Hnia Yang and Kia Her. Oddly enough Co City champs Johnson and Harding failed to land a doubles team in the final four.
SINGLES RESULTS
FIRST ROUND
Olamade Fudahunsi, Johnson beat Kari Finseth, Central 21-11, 21-12
Stephanie King, Harding beat Nhu Richards, Highland Park 21-16, 21-3
Belick Pha, Johnson beat Shoua Moua, Humboldt 21-12, 21-14
Elena Kronmiller, Highland Park beat Dawn Vang, Central 21-8, 21-17
Der Xiong, Como Park beat Cha Her, Arlington 29-27, 21-12
Shide Vang, Humboldt beat KY, Central 21-14, 13-21, 21-17
Yer Yang, Como Park beat Micha Everts, Highland Park 21-10, 21-7
Crystal Yang, Harding beat LL, Arlington 21-17, 21-13
Nou Fang, Como Park beat MDY, Humboldt 21-15, 21-17
Ka Neng Vue, Como Park beat Tina Yang, Arlington 21-17, 21-18
Pang Thao, Johnson beat Novia Josiah, Arlington 23-21, 21-15
Alana Yang, Harding beat SV, Humboldt 21-14, 21-13
SWEET 16
Khoua Xiong, Highland Park beat Olamade Fudahunsi, Johnson 21-10, 21-12
Stephanie King, Harding beat Belick Pha, Johnson 21-10, 21-13
Yer Chang, Central beat Elena Kronmiller, Highland Park 21-19, 16-21, 21-11
Der Xiong, Como Park beat Shide Vang, Humboldt 21-17, 22-20
Mee Xiong, Harding beat Yer Yang, Como Park 21-11, 21-19
Crystal Yang, Harding beat Nou Fang, Como Park 21-10, 21-11
Goly Yang, Johnson beat Ka Neng Vue, Como Park 21-6, 24-22
Pang Thao, Johnson beat Alana Yang, Harding 21-17, 21-19
QUARTERFINALS
Khoua Xiong, Highland Park beat Stephanie King, Harding 21-10, 15-21, 21-17
Yer Chang, Central beat Der Xiong, Como Park 21-19, 16-21, 21-8
Mee Xiong, Harding beat Crystal Yang, Harding 21-12, 21-4
Goly Yang, Johnson beat Pang Thao, Johnson 21-19, 21-13
Doubles featured pool play and they had a point system where the winners advanced. I don't have those results, but the here are the quarterfinals:
DOUBLES QUARTERFINALS
Doua Thao/Da Chang, Central beat Sheng Thao/PC, Johnson 21-11, 21-12
Malinda Xiong/Mai See Xiong, Central beat D/M, Humboldt 21-18, 21-11
Phoua Xiong/Mai Sia Yang, Central beat Kia Thao/Kou Nou Chang, Johnson 21-19, 14-21, 24-22
PH/K, Arlington beat MC/N, Humboldt 21-18, 15-21, 21-17
WHAT I SAW
I saw four full singles matches plus the last two games of the Khoua Xiong/Stephanie King match.
#1 KRONMILLER/VANG (FIRST ROUND)In the first contest Elena Kronmiller of Highland Park beat Dawn Vang of Central 21-8, 21-17. Kronmiller jumped out to a commanding 12-1 lead. It was hard to come back from such a big hole. The odd fact in game one: Vang sided out at 62.5% (5/8). Kronmiller was even higher at 87.5%.
Game two was a bit more contested with no huge runs. Vang led at 7-6 and held the one point advantage up to 13-12. Kronmiller didn't take the lead for good until she reached 16-14. After that Kronmiller forced Vang to side out her last four serves. Meanwhile Kronmiller squeezed points off her last six serves.
Photo: Kronmiller reaches for a shot. photo by kja
#2 FUDAHUNSI/FINSETH (FIRST ROUND)
Fudahunsi of Johnson started the first game with five straight points and led 9-1. Finseth battled back to 14-9, but another run by Fudahunsi made it 18-9.
In game two Fudahunsi started out with a 3-0 lead. Finseth closed to 7-6. Fudahunsi used a three point run to go up 10-6. She stretched that lead out to 14-8. Finseth staged a comebacl to cut the margin to 15-12. A hitting error gave the bird back to Fudahunsi and she didn't share the rest of the game scoring five more points for the win. This contest lasted 16 minutes (7:22 for game one and 8:33 for game two).
#2 FUDAHUNSI/FINSETH (FIRST ROUND)
Fudahunsi of Johnson started the first game with five straight points and led 9-1. Finseth battled back to 14-9, but another run by Fudahunsi made it 18-9.
In game two Fudahunsi started out with a 3-0 lead. Finseth closed to 7-6. Fudahunsi used a three point run to go up 10-6. She stretched that lead out to 14-8. Finseth staged a comebacl to cut the margin to 15-12. A hitting error gave the bird back to Fudahunsi and she didn't share the rest of the game scoring five more points for the win. This contest lasted 16 minutes (7:22 for game one and 8:33 for game two).
photo: Finseth sends the bird back to Fudahunsi. photo by kja
#3 THAO/YANG (SWEET 16)
Pang Thao took the early advantage at 3-0. Alana Yang managed to tie it at 5. Thao reasserted herselft at 10-6 with another run of three. Thao continued to build on that lead to 19-13. But her fifth service error in this game gave the bird back. Yang used it for a three point run to close to 20-18. Thao ended round one with a drive.
Just as in the first game Thao led early, this time 4-0. Yang battled back and led at 9-8. Neither got any traction with four ties after that, the last coming at 14 all. Thao used a soft drive to start a three point run and she was back in the saddle. Now my cout had Thao winning at 21-16, but the pair kept playing. They finally stopped at 22-18.
#3 THAO/YANG (SWEET 16)Pang Thao took the early advantage at 3-0. Alana Yang managed to tie it at 5. Thao reasserted herselft at 10-6 with another run of three. Thao continued to build on that lead to 19-13. But her fifth service error in this game gave the bird back. Yang used it for a three point run to close to 20-18. Thao ended round one with a drive.
Just as in the first game Thao led early, this time 4-0. Yang battled back and led at 9-8. Neither got any traction with four ties after that, the last coming at 14 all. Thao used a soft drive to start a three point run and she was back in the saddle. Now my cout had Thao winning at 21-16, but the pair kept playing. They finally stopped at 22-18.
photo: Pang Thao on the far court reaches to her right. photo by kja
#4 YANG/THAO (QUARTERFINALS)
This was a civil war game with both #3 seed Goly Yang and Pang Th
ao Johnson Governors. Both have held the first position at Johnson this year. Thao has a knee injury which she aggravated in the Alana Yang Sweet 16 round. Her mobility isn't what it has been and Goly Yang was aggressive in bird placement.
Yang had an early three point run to lead 4-2. Thao surged back in front with a 4-1 run to lead 9-7. Thao maintained that two point lead until Yang added another three point run to lead 12-11. That was the start of a 7-2 run. Thao wasn't done quite yet and had a run of three to tie it up at 18. Yang closed out the win with three Thao hitting errors broken up by a drop shot.
Yang surged ahead in game two 5-2 after a run of six and then added another four point run to lead 10-4. Thao, like in game one, battled back to trail 11-9 after a four point run. This game featured six runs alone. Side outs were rare. And sometimes the server helped cut their own throat with service errors. Yang missed four serves in game two, while Thao cleaned up that part of her game. Yang was on the verge at 19-10 when she missed her 4th serve short. That started a four point run for Thao. A Yang drive got the bird back and she closed out the match on the next serve 21-14.
#4 YANG/THAO (QUARTERFINALS)
This was a civil war game with both #3 seed Goly Yang and Pang Th
ao Johnson Governors. Both have held the first position at Johnson this year. Thao has a knee injury which she aggravated in the Alana Yang Sweet 16 round. Her mobility isn't what it has been and Goly Yang was aggressive in bird placement.Yang had an early three point run to lead 4-2. Thao surged back in front with a 4-1 run to lead 9-7. Thao maintained that two point lead until Yang added another three point run to lead 12-11. That was the start of a 7-2 run. Thao wasn't done quite yet and had a run of three to tie it up at 18. Yang closed out the win with three Thao hitting errors broken up by a drop shot.
Yang surged ahead in game two 5-2 after a run of six and then added another four point run to lead 10-4. Thao, like in game one, battled back to trail 11-9 after a four point run. This game featured six runs alone. Side outs were rare. And sometimes the server helped cut their own throat with service errors. Yang missed four serves in game two, while Thao cleaned up that part of her game. Yang was on the verge at 19-10 when she missed her 4th serve short. That started a four point run for Thao. A Yang drive got the bird back and she closed out the match on the next serve 21-14.
Photo: Goly Yang about to drop shot to Pang Thao's left. phot by kja
#5 XIONG/KING QUARTERFINALS
I picked up on this game after game one was through. Khoua Xiong took that contest 21-10. In game two Stephanie King came out with three straight points and a 7-1 run to take command. King limited Xiong's run opportunities to only one three point run. That closed the margin to 13-12, but Xiong served deep on the next serve to give the bird back. Earlier the count was thrown off by two for Xiong so the final score which officially ended up to be 15 was actually 17. I don't know how they messed up, but it didn't factor into the outcome. To contrast this first game with the last Yang/Thao match this game Khoua Xiong served 13 times. Goly Yang served 7 times, so you can see their was more siding out, and less offensive runs in this game. King provided a drop for the deciding 21st point and forcing a third game.
Xiong was the one to establish her game early with a three point run. Later she added another three point run to lead 9-4. King turned the tables with a run of five of her own including a smash. This tied the score at 9. Xiong had two smashes in a three point run to retake the lead 12-9. The game then turned into a cat and mouse game with King knotting it up at 12, and then taking the lead at 15-14 on a handcuff drive. On the next bird Xiong made a save and King hit the bird in the net to tie it and get the side out back to Xiong. That was the beginning of a 7-2 run to finish the contest. Xiong used a smash to finish the last singles game 21-17.
#5 XIONG/KING QUARTERFINALS
I picked up on this game after game one was through. Khoua Xiong took that contest 21-10. In game two Stephanie King came out with three straight points and a 7-1 run to take command. King limited Xiong's run opportunities to only one three point run. That closed the margin to 13-12, but Xiong served deep on the next serve to give the bird back. Earlier the count was thrown off by two for Xiong so the final score which officially ended up to be 15 was actually 17. I don't know how they messed up, but it didn't factor into the outcome. To contrast this first game with the last Yang/Thao match this game Khoua Xiong served 13 times. Goly Yang served 7 times, so you can see their was more siding out, and less offensive runs in this game. King provided a drop for the deciding 21st point and forcing a third game.Xiong was the one to establish her game early with a three point run. Later she added another three point run to lead 9-4. King turned the tables with a run of five of her own including a smash. This tied the score at 9. Xiong had two smashes in a three point run to retake the lead 12-9. The game then turned into a cat and mouse game with King knotting it up at 12, and then taking the lead at 15-14 on a handcuff drive. On the next bird Xiong made a save and King hit the bird in the net to tie it and get the side out back to Xiong. That was the beginning of a 7-2 run to finish the contest. Xiong used a smash to finish the last singles game 21-17.
Photo: is it in or out? it is in and Khoua Xiong on the next blurry photo makes contact with a backhand. (blurry photo not included). photo by kja
Next up: tomorrow's results
Next up: tomorrow's results
