A near sweep for Palmetto more than enough to secure back-to-back GMAC badminton titles
Miami Palmetto’s badminton team had no trouble running it back at the GMAC championships on Tuesday afternoon.
The Panthers didn’t just repeat as team champions, finishing a comfortable eight points ahead of runner-up Varela. Palmetto had repeat champions in four of the five individual brackets as it took home titles in all but the boys’ singles division.
One of the remarkable parts of the performance was that, according to Zarco, most of his champions were second-year badminton players who have known only that kind of success throughout their brief time playing the sport.
After such a dominant performance, all that was left was the team’s annual tradition of heading over to Wall’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream shop near Dadeland Mall for some celebratory desserts.
“It’s great for them because a lot of these kids had never played anything before,” Palmetto coach David Zarco said. “They get their friends to come out and play and it’s all the ‘mathletes.’ All these kids have at least a 3.5 GPA and they practice every Saturday from 2 o’clock till sometimes as late as 8 or 9 o’clock. They love it.”
Reagan’s Matthew Kang took home the only championship not won by a Palmetto player when he rallied to beat Varela’s Gabriel Pion 21-11, 21-13. Kang lost to Pion to open the day and had to rally through the consolation bracket to earn a rematch in the final. The two then dueled in a best-of-3 series of matches before Kang emerged victorious.
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Kang credited one of his coaches, former three-time GMAC champion for Reagan Marc Brian Bangoy, for guiding him to a successful season.
“I was hoping my coach would show up because I need that authority showing my how to play the game,” Kang said. “An outside perspective really lets you see what you’re doing and what you might be doing wrong and he pushed me through it.”
Sophomore Katarina Slazas kicked off Palmetto’s string of victories in the championship round by claiming her second consecutive girls’ singles title. Slazas didn’t need long to defeat Goleman’s Anabelle Calles 21-9, 21-1 in the decisive match.
“I’m really happy to be here and be able to go out and play my game,” said Slazas, who has been a part of two GMAC titles on the girls’ soccer team at Palmetto as well. “It’s a lot of fun because we all practice hard for this and get to win together.”
Next it was the doubles teams’ turn.
The duo of Charles Mo, who won a boys’ doubles title last season, and first-year player Darren Ku outlasted Goleman’s pair of Roger Castillo and Nicholas Donoso 21-14, 21-10.
Palmetto beat Varela head-to-head in both the girls’ doubles and mixed doubles divisions.
In mixed, Raafay Khan and Nicole Paz took home the title following a 21-17, 21-18 win over Varela’s Anthony Perez and Liz Tebacker. For Paz, it was her second win in a row and first for Khan.
Penelope Murray and Isabella Reale edged Darlyn Hernandez and Amber Velez in a three-set match 20-22, 21-18, 21-13 to win the girls’ doubles title.
RESULTS
Team scores: 1. Palmetto 19; 2. Varela 11; 3. Reagan 7; 4. Goleman 6; 5. Krop, Coral Park and Sunset 2; 8. Braddock 1.
Individual results - Boys’ singles: Matthew Kang (RR) d. Gabriel Pion (Var) 21-11, 21-13; 3. Matthew Laporte (Var); 4. Sangrae Kim (RR); Girls’ singles: Katarina Slazas (Pal) d. Anabelle Calles (Gol) 21-9, 21-1; 3. Vanessa Irazabal (RR); 4. Marilyn Mackay (Brad); Boys’ doubles: Darren Ku/Charles Mo (Pal) d. Roger Castillo/Nicholas Donoso (Gol) 21-14, 21-10; 3. Kristopher Menendez/Brian Shirley (Pal); 4. Alan Gampel/Ricardo Gampel (Kr); Girls’ doubles: Penelope Murray/Isabella Reale (Pal) d. Darlyn Hernandez/Amber Velez (Var) 20-22, 21-18, 21-13; 3. Stacie Jimenez/Analenia Morales (CP); 4. Alexandra Filori/Sofia Torres (Kr); Mixed doubles: Raafay Khan/Nicole Paz (Pal) d. Anthony Perez/Liz Tebacker (Var) 21-17, 21-18; 3. Samuel Hernandez/Milainy Llopiz-Llado (Sun); 4. Khanh Duong/Brandon Jagers (Pal).
