Jaime Junio did forceful smashes, but it’s not his muscular power that helped him and his partner, Irene Chiu, clinch victory and land on number one of Group 1 of the Open-Invitational, Mixed Category of the POWERADE Badminton Cup 2006 held this weekend at Yonex Badminton Club in Mandaluyong. Junio and Chiu breezed through the grueling elimination rounds through the former’s clever drop shots and strategic shuttlecock placements, and through the latter’s superb defense, nailing the final match against Ian Piencenaves and Liza Sormillo at 21-14.

The tandem of Lloyd Escoses and Casey Ang Siy proved to be the surprise of the event when they stayed formidable at the top of Group 2. Siy, the only player in the Open Category who’s neither an RP team member nor a collegiate/varsity player, pulled-off an impressive display of offense that proved to be at par with her well-trained challengers. Escoses’ and Siy’s powerful smashes dictated the tempo in their crucial match against Wilson Frias and Paula Obaniana who landed on the second place of the category’s Group 11.

The top two pairs of Open-Invitational/Mixed Category that has two groups will meet once more in a cross-over match on December 2 where the same level of play and competitiveness can be expected as each pair vies for the Php73,000.00 prize pot consisting of cash and Kimoni products.

The other pairs who competed in the Mixed-Open Category are Wally Fernandez/Mylene Amahit and Marlon Villarin/Mia Villarin.

Meanwhile, Jonathan De Vera/Reggie De Polonia and Ruel Inciong/Lloyd Nicolas will be the marked men to meet in the finals on December 2 when they emerged as the victors of Men’s Category, Level 1 in the eliminations.

Organized by MindWorks team and supported by Viva Mineral Water, Coca-Cola Light and Kimoni, the official racquet provider of the competition, POWERADE Badminton Cup 2006 will stage the elimination games of the Men’s Doubles -Open Invitational Category and Men’s Doubles, Ladies Doubles and Mixed Doubles Categories of the club-level group on November 25 and 26.