KUWAIT CITY, June 6: After clinching the team title last week , Hankook Tires were the best again this week as they took  top honors in Men’s A, the senior-most category , in the 20th Filipino Badminton Association in Ahmadi FBAA Conference “5th Hankook Tires Cup”, at the Fahaheel Sports Center, Friday.
Hankook Tires were made to fight hard in the finals before  they could overcome some tough resistance from SK Engineering & Construction who finished 1st Runners-up.
The battle for the crowns in the other categories was equally tough with Worley Parsons Resources and Energy ending as champions in Men’s B and McDonalds Kuwait 1st runners-up while Western Union Money collected the title in Men’s Higher C and Maidan Clinic finished in the 1st Runners-up spot.
Maidan Clinic put in a better performance in Mem’s Lower C to walk home with the title while Hankook Tires finished as 1st Runners-up while it was Western Union Money Transfer who collected their second crown of the day when they won in Ladies A&B with Hankook Tires again collecting the 1st Runners-up award.
In the last competition , for the title in the Mixed C category, it was Wataniya Telecoms who ran away with the top awards while McDonalds finished in the 1st Runners-up spot.
Men’s  A
Hankook Tires took  home the beacon in the Men’s A event when they achieved a 2-1 win and 7-3 points against SK Engineering after  Albert Marcelo and Joms Tantiangco   overcame Joenel Seva and William Naoe 17-15, 15-13 while Albert and Nikka Mae Hatoum outlasted Joenel and Marvin de Luna 15-12, 6-15, 15-13. SK Engineering scored through Marvin and Ron Margate who beat Nikka and Tony Osea 13-15, 15-10, 15-9.
Earlier in the semi finals, Hankook Tires tied  with Wataniya Telecom after they scored  2 wins each but Hankook Tires moved ahead after collecting  8-4 points when Nikka Mae Hatoum and Tony Osea   hammered Mike Florendo and Jerry Labagnoy 15-9, 15-7 and  Albert Marcelo and Nikka overwhelmed Rowx Bugas and Mike 15-11, 15-7. Wataniya bounced back through Rowx and Bon Elamparo who outlasted Albert and Joms Tantiangco in a seesaw battle 17-15, 13-15, 15-11 while Bon and Jerry edged Joms and Tony 15-17, 15-12, 15-12.
SK Engineering and  NLB Corp tied with 2 wins and 6 points each but    SK Engineering compiled a total of 108 points that saw  them move  on to the championship finals as NLB gathered  only 98 points. SK Engineering scored through Joenel Seva and Marvin de Luna who outlasted Carlo Bornilla and Zahidul Islam 15-4, 13-15, 15-7 while one of the matches was won by default. NLB Corp fought  through Carlo and Sheikh Ibrahim who thumped Joenel and William Naoe 15-11, 15-4 while Sheikh and JP Parayno edged William and Ron Margate 15-12, 12-15, 15-8.
Men’s B
In Men’s B ,  Worley Parson collected  2 wins and 6 points as did  McDonalds but Worley Parsons scored 143 points   which resulted in  them collecting  the crown as McDonalds could manage only  126 points.
Worley Parsons   saw Arjay Lesaca and Ryan Aguilar edge Mokbul Hussein and Tim Torres 15-11, 14-16, 15-7 while Ryan and Hans Ita-as thrashed Tim and Aileen Perez 15-8, 15-7. McDonalds bounced back through Annie Blouin and Aileen who outlasted James Blaz and Hans in 3 extended  sets 13-15, 16-14, 16-14 while Mokbul and Annie tamed Arjay and James 17-15, 15-11.
Earlier in the semi finals , Worley Parsons completed a 2-1 win and 7-3 points against Wataniya when  Arjay and Ryan   brushed aside Marlad Aman and Anthony Valdez 15-9, 15-12 and James with  Hans overpowered Roman Malabanan and Alyssa Tagate 15-8, 15-7. Wataniya scored through Marlad and Roman who overwhelmed Arjay and James 15-12, 15-8.
Meanwhile, McDonalds gained a 3-1 win and 1-4 points against Hankook Tires after  Mokbul and Tim   thumped Kevin Yap and Karlo Petines 15-12, 15-5 ,  Annie and Aileen edge Cesar Isidro and Joshua Monungolh 15-7, 9-15, 15-13 and Mokbul with Annie beat Kevin and Cesar 15-13, 15-8. Hankook Tires scored through Karlo and Joshua who overwhelmed Tim and Aileen 15-7, 15-11.
Men’s Higher C     
Western Union Money Transfer walked  home with the title in Men’s Higher C when they completed a 3-1 win and collected 8-1 points driven by Joel Buot and Glenn Perea who outlasted Glenn Piliotas and Jet Adlawan 14-16, 15-10, 15-4 while Keisha Stecky and Ahmad Stecky crushed Jun Gonzales and Nihar Esmula 15-8, 15-1 and Glenn with Ahmad thumped Jet and Nihar 15-9, 15-10.