{"id":403598,"date":"2023-12-07T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=403598"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"NMBA-caps-season-with-national-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/NMBA-caps-season-with-national-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"NMBA caps season with national championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Northern Marianas Badminton Association will wrap up the 2023 season by staging the NMI Badminton National Championships this weekend at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.<\/p>\n

The season finale will feature competitions in the U17 age group and the open category. Both divisions will have the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles events. As of yesterday, nearly 50 players have signed up for the tournament that will run from Dec. 8 to 10.<\/p>\n

Majority of the registered participants are part of the junior national training pool that went through a training camp under Robbie Thackham, Coaching and Development manager for Badminton Oceania, last month at the TSL Sports Complex. This weekend\u2019s competition will also feature senior players that have undergone the similar training camp with the Badminton Oceania official.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time for our players to showcase what they have learned from the training camp. They had a pocket tournament of sorts during Robbie\u2019s training camp, but this time, we will have our regular competition where players\u2019 skill levels are mixed,\u201d NMBA president Merlie Tolentino said.<\/p>\n

The NMI Badminton National Championships is also a good warm-up for U17 players that are preparing for next month\u2019s TakeCare Interscholastic Badminton League 2023-2024 Season, High School Division. Marianas High School won last season\u2019s co-ed high school championship over Agape Christian School and the Dolphins have a bunch of entries both in the U17 age group and open category in the season-finale tournament.<\/p>\n

Some junior players are teaming up with the seniors to compete in the open division, while there are also junior players pairing up to challenge the seniors. Janelle Pangilinan is entered with Saipan International School\u2019s Lina Tsukagoshi in the women\u2019s open doubles, while Kyle Salcedo is with Prapti Modal in the mixed doubles in the open category, which has several adult players, including former national players Andrew Galvez and Nathan Guerrero.<\/p>\n

The boys U17 singles has 10 entries, while five will battle for the girls U17 singles tiara. In the boys doubles, there are six teams, while the girls has four, and the mixed doubles has drawn nine pairs. In the open category, the men\u2019s singles field has 14; women\u2019s has three; men\u2019s doubles has 10 teams; women\u2019s doubles has five; and mixed doubles is crowded with 12 pairs. Draws for each event will be announced tomorrow, Friday. (PR)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Junior player Lina Tsukagoshi, left, and senior player Janelle Pangilinan, seen here in a competition NMBA hosted last September, are teaming up anew to compete in the NMI Badminton National Championships this weekend at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.<\/p>\n

-CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
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