Irvine Valley's women's badminton player Cora Tanuwidjaja came so close to winning the singles title at the CCCAA State Badminton Individual Championships last Saturday at Pasadena City College.
But she fell to top-seeded Rebecca Tzou of Pasadena City in the finals in three tough sets.
Tzou completed a perfect season at 33-0 to win the state singles crown while East Los Angeles College's doubles pair of Jean Buenaflor and Serena Lieu captured the Huskies' first-ever state title.
The South Coast Conference swept all the big awards, including the consolation singles title in Buenaflor and the consolation doubles medal for Pasadena's pair of Eugenia Mendez and Ana Espinoza.
In the singles final, Tzou rallied to defeat Irvine Valley's Tanuwidjaja, 18-21, 21-10, 21-15.
Tzou trailed 11-8 at the break in the final set, and was behind as late as 14-12. At that point, Tzou took over the match with a 9-1 rally that clinched the match.
As advertised, the semi between Tzou and Irvine Valley sophomore Jurate Foes, the two state runner-ups of 2015 and '14, went the distance with Tzou changing her tactics after losing the opening set. Tzou went to a more aggressive style and used a variety of hard smashes and net volleys to beat the more experienced Foes, 17-21, 21-11, 21-11.
Tzou opened 13-5 advantages in each of the last two sets. Tanuwidjaja pulled out a marathon over Skyline's Fiona Lai, 21-14, 13-21, 21-19, in the other semifinal.
In the doubles final, ELAC's Buenaflor and Lieu rallied from a set down to defeat Fresno City's Lucy Lor and Panhia Vang, 14-21, 21-11, 21-16.
Buenaflor-Lieu knocked off Irvine Valley's top pair of Tanuwidjaja and sophomore Tracey Nie, 24-22, 21-13. An injury to Foes, playing with partner sophomore Peihong Jiang, allowed Vang-Lor to move on to the finals after Vang-Lor led 21-13 through one set and 5-1 in the second.
STATE INDIVIDUALS, Friday
SINGLES
Round 1
Rebekah Leslie (Grossmont) def. Leslie Lam (Fresno), 21-19, 21-18
Jing Mi (Grossmont) def. Diana Resendiz (Pasadena), 21-11, 21-9
Mai Troung (SD Mesa) def. Jean Buenaflor (East LA), 21-13, 21-7
Ana Espinoza (Pasadena) def. Wenting Liang (Fresno), 21-7, 21-13
Melody Zhou (Fresno) def. Jennifer Delgado (Pasadena), 21-17, 21-6
Elita Murtanu (De Anza) def. Polly Huynh (SD Mesa), 21-7, 21-16
Thao Le (SD City) def. Megan Hsiao (De Anza), 21-17, 22-20
Tran Pham (Grossmont) def. Serena Lieu (East LA), 14-21, 21-17, 21-19
Round 2
Rebecca Tzou (Pasadena) def. Leslie, 21-8, 21-11
Panhia Vang (Fresno) def. Mi, 21-16, 21-18
Lucy Lor (Fresno) def. Truong, 21-12, 21-8
Jurate Foes (Irvine Valley) def. Espinoza, 21-14, 21-11
Cora Tanuwidjaja (Irvine Valley) def. Zhou, 21-7, 21-12
Murtanu def. Sandra Maw (Pasadena), 11-21, 21-15, 21-18
Le def. Eugenia Mendez (Pasadena), 17-21, 21-7, 21-14
Fiona Lai (Skyline) def. Pham, 21-9, 21-10
Round 3
Championship Quarterfinals
Tzou def. Vang, 21-11, 21-15
Foes def. Lor, 21-15, 21-17
Tanuwidjaja def. Murtanu, 21-11, 21-13
Lai def. Le, 21-19, 21-15
Consolation Play-In
Play-in: Mendez def. Hsaio, 21-19, 21-14
Consolation Quarterfinals
Lam def. Resendiz, 21-4, 21-9
Buenaflor def. Liang, 9-21, 21-18, 21-12
Mendez def. Lieu, 21-17, 21-19
Huynh def. Delgado, 21-6, 21-11
Championship Semifinals
Rebecca Tzou (Pasadena) def. Jurate Foes (Irvine Valley), 17-21, 21-11, 21-11
Cora Tanuwidjaja (Irvine Valley) def. Fiona Lai (Skyline), 21-14, 13-21, 21-19
Championship Final
Tzou def. Tanuwidjaja, 18-21, 21-10, 21-15
Consolation Semifinals
Eugenia Mendez (Pasadena) def. Polly Huynh (San Diego Mesa), 21-11, 21-9
Jean Buenaflor (East Los Angeles) def. Leslie Lam (Fresno), 24-22, 21-16
Consolation Final
Buenaflor def. Mendez, 21-19, 21-11
DOUBLES
Play-in: Carla Montanes-Rachel Lum (Skyline) def. Ma-Shao (Irvine Valley), 21-11, 21-9
Round 1
Lieu-Buenaflor (East LA) def. Montanes-Lum (Skyline), 21-10, 21-11
Lai-Vivi Tran (Skyline) def. Saki Kaneko-Pham (Grossmont), 21-3, 21-17
Hsiao-Murtanu (De Anza) def. Espinoza-Mendez (Pasadena), 21-17, 21-13
Tanuwidjaja-Tracey Nie (Irvine Valley) def. Natsuki Hoshiko-Jordan Alvira (El Camino), 21-5, 21-8
Foes-Peihong Jiang (Irvine Valley) def. Yuyu Hsuan-Tiffany Liao (De Anza), 21-15, 21-12
Mi-Leslie (Grossmont) def. Resendiz-Delgado (Pasadena), 21-9, 21-3
Zhou-Liang (Fresno) by walkover Tzou-Maw (Pasadena) [injury]
Vang-Lor (Fresno) def. Olga Pardo-Jamia Smith (ECC Compton), 21-7, 21-8
Round 2
Championship Quarterfinals
Vang-Lor def. Mi-Leslie, 21-19, 21-19
Foes-Jiang def. Zhou-Liang, 21-10, 21-17
Tanuwidjaja-Nie def. Hsiao-Murtanu, 21-8, 21-13
Lieu-Buenaflor def. Lai-Tran, 21-10, 21-18
Consolation Quarterfinals
Resendiz-Delgado def. Pardo-Smith, 21-7, 21-5
Espinoza-Mendez def. Hoshiko-Alvira, 21-11, 21-10
Kaneko-Pham def. Ma-Shao, 16-21, 22-20, 21-10
Hsuan-Liao by walkover over Tzou-Maw (injury)
Championship Semifinals
Serena Lieu-Jean Buenaflor (East Los Angeles) def. Cora Tanuwidjaja-Tracey Nie (Irvine Valley), 24-22, 21-13
Panhia Vang-Lucy Lor (Fresno) def. Jurate Foes-Peihong Jiang (Irvine Valley), 21-13, 5-1 (retired)
Final
Lieu-Buenaflor def. Vang-Lor, 14-21, 21-11, 21-16
Consolation Semifinals
Yuyu Hsuan Liu-PanYue Liao (De Anza) def. Diana Resendiz-Jennifer Delgado (Pasadena), 21-13, 21-13
Ana Espinoza-Eugenia Mendez (Pasadena) def. Saki Kaneko-Tran Pham (Grossmont), 17-21, 21-15, 21-9
Consolation Final
Espinoza-Mendez def. Hsuan-Liao, 21-17, 21-12
