Tuesday, May 13, 2008

State Quarters: Central Advances

#1 posting 5.13.2008
badminton news & information

STATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS
CENTRAL ADVANCES
St. Paul Central beat St. Paul Highland Park 4-3 in the rubber match between the two schools at Central this afternoon. Both reached the quarterfinal round with sweeps over Minneapolis Henry and Minneapolis North respectively.

First off I will recap the Central/Henry game. I will also have the box on the Highland/North game too. After that it is the quarterfinals.

CENTRAL minutemen 7, HENRY patriots 0
Central swept Henry. The closest contest came at first singles with a difference of 7 points separating Yer Chang from Yer Yang. The Central doubles locomotive steamrolled the Henry doubles. The Henry second doubles team of Lakresha Williams and Sheng Xiong were the only doubles pair to crack double digits in one game.

FIRST SINGLES
Yer Yang put up a struggle with Yer Chang, but in the end it was Chang walking off with the victory.
Yang led early in game one 4-0, and held a 9-4 lead at the largest. The key factor in game one was the side out performance. Chang was able to score on serves 4-8 and that propelled her to the lead 16-13. Meanwhile Chang prevented Yang from scoring on six of her last seven serves. Chang also had three runs of 3+ in game one, while Yang only had her run at the start. For some reason I had one more point for Chang 22-16.

Yang again had a great start in game two. She led 7-1 after her first serve. Chang rallied with her own run of six to cut the margin to 9-8. A pair of smashes helped get that run rolling. Yang maintained a slim lead until her 7th serve where she added four more points besides the side out to go up 19-13. She had her second ace in the run. Then things turned on a dime. Chang got the side out on a hitting error and never gave the bird back. She ended the match with a clear.

This match went 17+ minutes which is quite long for a two game match.
Yang played with more confidence and also cut way back on errors--especially serving errors that plagued her the past couple of weeks.
Photos: #1. Yer Yang aims high for a bird. #2. Yer Chang reaches for a drop shot. photos by kja.

FIRST SINGLES NUMBERS
SIDEOUTS:
Yer Chang 9/17-.529; Yer Yang 7/18-.389
RUNS OF 3+:
Yer Chang 6; Yer Yang 3
POINTS:
Yer Chang 43
Winners 18: Drops 6, Soft Drive 5, Clears 4, Smashes 2, Drives 1
Yer Yang Errors 25: hitting 24 (Net 13, Wide 11); Serving 1 (Deep 1)
Yer Yang 35
Winners: 16: Drives 4, Soft Drives 4, Aces 3, Smashes 3, Drops 1, Clears 1
Yer Chang Errors 19: hitting 18 (Net 10, Wide 5, Drives 2, Fans 1); Serving 1 (wide 1)
Time: 17:23

SINGLES
1. Yer Chang
(C) beat Yer Yang 21-16, 21-19
2. Kari Finseth (C) beat Nhia Yang 21-13, 21-13
3. Dawn Vang (C) beat Ma Pha 21-13, 21-7
4. Ka Yang (C) beat Gao Khoua Xiong 21-14, 21-16
DOUBLES
1. Doua Thao/Da Chang
(C) beat Neng Vang/See Thao 21-7, 21-8
2. Malinda Xiong/Mai See Xiong (C) beat Lakresha Williams/Sheng Xiong 21-9, 21-13
3. Phoua Xiong/Mai Sia Yang (C) beat Shoua Yang/Tenisha Williams 21-8, 21-7

BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches
: Central 4-0 1.000
Games: Central 8-0 1.000
Points: Central 168-85 .664
decided by 10+: Central 1-0 1.000
decided by 3 or less: Central 1-0 1.000
DOUBLES
matches:
Central 3-0 1.000
games: Central 6-0 1.000
points: Central 126-52 .709
decided by 10+: Central 5-0 1.000
decided by 3: none

HIGHLAND PARK scots 7, NORTH polars 0
Highland Park swept North 7-0. The North 2nd doubles team of Jaime Lee and Amanda Seline did take the first game for the only North game win of the day.
SINGLES
1. Khoua Xiong (HP) beat Among Vang 21-6, 21-5
2. Micha Everts (HP) beat Foua Khang 21-14, 21-8
3. Elena Kronmiller (HP) beat Pa Kou Pha 21-5, 21-11
4. Nhu Richards (HP) beat Mee Khang 21-14, 21-13
DOUBLES
1. Pa Kou Lor/Drew Thao (HP) beat Phoua Khang/Vang Khang 21-15, 21-19
2. Grace Moran/Alison Cole (HP) beat Jaime Lee/Amanda Seline 18-21, 21-13, 22-20
3. Seng Lee/Pa Ying Moua (HP) beat Xue Vang/See Lee 21-9, 21-11

BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: Highland Park 4-0 1.000
Games: Highland Park 8-0 1.000
Points: Highland Park 168-76 .689
decided by 10+: Highland Park 5-0
decided by 3 or less: none
DOUBLES
matches: Highland Park 3-0 1.000
games: Highland Park 6-1 .857
points: Highland Park 145-108 .573
decided by 10+: Highland Park 2-0 1.000
decided by 3: Highland Park 2-1 .667

CENTRAL minutemen 4, HIGHLAND PARK scots 3

Central won the rubber match with Highland by splitting the singles and taking the top two doubles. The deciding game came down to fourth singles as all other matches were finished. Game two went long with Nhu Richards rallying for a 26-24 win. Ka Yang led 24-23 before the Richards started her run. In game three it was tied at 7 all when Yang ran off 7 straight to go up 14-7. That was the difference maker in the game and the match.
photo: Ka Yang reaches for a bird in the deciding game at 4th singles. photo by kja

FIRST SINGLES
This was a contrast of games---game one tight, game two not at all. Through it all one constant remained--Khoua Xiong had a strong side out game in both games.
In the first game the side out game ruled for the first five points. Yer Chang was the first to break free with a run of four. She scored on her serve with a clear then used a soft drive (what would be a change up in baseball). Khoua Xiong matched her run with three. Chang led throughout most of the first game. She stretched the margin to 16-12 after a smash. Xiong got a smash for a key side out. Xiong then was able to score off her serve the next three times. At the same time Xiong got the side out over Chang the last three times. The game was tied 19 all when Chang had a fan/hitting error on her serve. Xiong ended it all with a clear.

Xiong ran off a 9-2 lead and got the side out on Chang's serve four straight times. On Xiong's fifth serve she ran off 8 more points to go on the verge 20-4. A late three point flurry kept the game going. The game ended on an anti-climatic note as Chang's serve sailed wide.

Xiong had another strong winner performance with .619. The soft drive/change up/cut shot is her signature shot and she used it for 9 points.
Photos: #1 Khoua Xiong looks like she is in a box as she sends a bird over the net. #2 eyes the bird in game two. photos by kja

FIRST SINGLES NUMBERS
SIDEOUTS:
Khoua Xiong 12/17-.706, Yer Chang 7/18-.389
RUNS OF 3+:
Khoua Xiong 5, Yer Chang 3
POINTS:
Khoua Xiong 42
Winners: 26: Soft drives 9, Smashes 5, Drops 5, Aces 3, Clears 3, Drives 1
Yer Chang Errors 16: hitting 14 (Net 8, Wide 6); Serving 2 (deep 1, wide 1)
Yer Chang 26
Winners 15: Soft Drives 5, Clears 3, Smashes 3, Drives 2, Drops 2
Khoua Xiong Errors 11: hitting 10 (Net 7, Wide 3); Serving 1 (Deep 1)
Time: 12:28

QUARTERFINALS
SINGLES
1. Khoua Xiong (HP) beat Yer Chang 21-19, 21-7
2. Kari Finseth (C) beat Micha Everts 21-14, 21-13
3. Elena Kronmiller (HP) beat Dawn Vang 21-11, 21-9
4. Ka Yang (C) beat Nhu Richards 21-12, 24-26, 21-13
DOUBLES
1. Doua Thao/Da Chang (C) beat Pa Kou Lor/Drew Thao 21-13, 21-13
2. Malinda Xiong/Mai See Xiong (C) beat Grace Moran/Alison Cole 19-21, 21-16, 21-12
3. Seng Lee/Pa Ying Moua (HP) beat Phoua Xiong/Mai Sia Yang 18-21, 21-17, 21-17

BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: tied 2-2 .500
Games: Highland Park 5-4 .556
Points: Highland Park 162-154 .513
decided by 10+: Highland Park 3-0 1.000
decided by 3 or less: Highland Park 2-0 1.000
DOUBLES
matches: Central 2-1 .667
games: Central 5-3 .625
points: Central 158-136 .537
decided by 10+: none
decided by 3-: 1-1

next up: tomorrow with the State Team finals.