3rd place finish for NMI Jr. badminton players

The NMI Junior National Badminton Team wrapped up the Pacific Under 17 Invitation Team Challenge 2024 with a Top 3 finish in the Land Down Under yesterday.

Their 3-2 win against New Caledonia solidified the NMI team’s overall third place finish at the Badminton Geelong in Victoria, Australia.

The NMI team was made up of Marianas High School students Genelyn Lansangan, Marlon Bautista, and Sernantie Jimenez; Saipan Southern High School’s Shaina Malonzo; Saipan International School’s Lina Tsukagoshi, and Tanapag Middle School’s Evan Seguritan. They were coached by NMI national team veterans Janelle Pangilinan and Ezekiel Macario.

NMI’s mixed doubles partners—Jimenez and Malonzo—faced off against New Caledonia’s Kimi Durand and Amy Katjawan, and won in two sets, 21-5, 21-5, for one point.

Tsukagoshi then had a tough matchup against Katjawan in the women’s singles, but won Team NMI another point after three sets, 21-10, 20-22, 21-7.

Women’s doubles partners Malonzo and Tsukagoshi then made light work of Augustine Capitaine and Olympe Darcheville, 21-10, 21-11, for NMI’s third point.

Before their bout against New Caledonia, the NMI team overpowered Cook Islands, 4-1, last Saturday.

Also last Saturday, NMI swept all five events—mixed doubles, men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, and women’s doubles—against Tahiti for five points.

Last Friday, NMI nearly swept Fiji in their matchup, 4-1. Against neighbor Guam in their competition debut last Friday, NMI survived, 3-2.

Even with a great outcome for Team NMI, Macario acknowledged that the competition was “really tough.” He said that almost everyone was near the same level of play, so it was also much of a “mind game” than just a physical one.

As for the team’s overall performance, Macario said, “it was great. Everybody was locked in, focused, and determined. We were battling through some minor injuries as well too.”

Pangilinan added that “overall, the kids did very well. After this, it’ll give them the experience they need and know they need to work harder to compete in other competitions.”

Macario said the tournament itself was great because they now know how NMI stacks up against other teams. “The NMI team now knows where they are at in terms of skill level with the other countries,” he said. “I hope the team’s performance inspires their friends too, because we have a lot of players—and now they see that we are able to medal in an Oceania event. If they want to, they can—just like their friends in this team that competed,” said Macario.

Before the start of competition, the NMI team participated in a three-day training camp at the same venue.

Northern Marianas Badminton Association president Merlie Tolentino congratulated the team on their performance.

“Congratulations to our NMI Junior National Badminton Team players and coaches. The NMBA is very pleased that we are now getting the positive results we are aiming for when we started to bring the badminton program to schools and recruit young players a couple of years ago. We are investing in our junior program to provide opportunities for our players to compete outside the NMI and experience high-level competitions, and encourage them to represent our islands well on and off the playing court,” said Tolentino.

She acknowledged coaches Janelle Pangilinan, Ezekiel Macario, and Nate Guerrero for taking on the challenge and responsibilities of coaching the NMI Junior National Badminton Team and contributing to the successful campaign of the visiting squad in Australia. 

“This accomplishment was not achieved overnight. It took months or years of having players who are committed to the sport, not just during the interscholastic season, but as well as in training camps and regular practice sessions. Count the guidance and dedication from our hardworking coaches and the technical support from Badminton Oceania, plus the support too from the players’ parents, teachers, and school officials. All these contributing factors have allowed us to build a strong program that is slowly delivering positive results for NMI badminton,” Tolentino added.