Elly Andrie Bergantin and Matt Cyrill Bisnar during the awarding ceremony. | Contributed photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Cebuano badminton pair of Elly Andrie Bergantin and Matt Cyrill Bisnar made waves at the C-One Badminton Challenge V7.0 held in Cagayan de Oro City over the weekend.
The dynamic duo clinched victory in the Men’s E finals, triumphing over Pagadian’s Rasheed Zayeffe Abdila and Leonardo Tan Jr. with a decisive 31-24 win.
What sets Bergantin and Bisnar apart is their remarkable teamwork, despite representing rival schools in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi).
Bergantin hails from the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters, while Bisnar represents the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars, both under the guidance of coach Raymond Canada Layon.
Their stellar performance earned them a prize of P35,000.
“Ang ilang kontra didto dili basta-basta kay mga gikan sa lain-lain nga mga schools ug universities,” Layon remarked.
“Pero ang among champions dili pud basta-basta kay mga champions pud na sa Cesafi ug Cebu City Olympics.”
Bergantin and Bisnar navigated a relatively smooth path to the finals.
They first defeated Mico Dela Cruz and Jericho Jumamil with a commanding score of 31-20.
In the second round, they overcame Ralph Batalon and Frene Celestial, 31-26. The pair then defeated Anthon Dale Amigable and Jasper Jessie Manlangit 31-26 to advance to the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, they bested Juville Bryan Agias and George Magat Jr. with a score of 31-24, and secured their spot in the finals by narrowly defeating Jhann Michael Abejuela and Rodney Lui, 31-29, in the semifinals.
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