Winning the Nationals

CapSU Roxas badminton coach smashes for silver win in 2012 NSCUAA

“Practice does not really make perfect; good practice makes perfect.”

In the 2012 Olympics hosted by the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) in Iloilo City in February, the men’s badminton team from Western Visayas clinched the second spot, beating out the National Capital Region and closely trailing Region IV for the top spot.

Much of the success of the region’s performance is credited to Mr. Bonymer V. Albor, the 38-year-old coach from Capiz State University (CapSU), who came to lead the team of savvy and passionate players from his own campus and later, the players from four state universities and colleges (SUCs) of Western Visayas in the national games.

TEAM WESTERN VISAYAS. (From left to right) Asst. Coach Nicolas Baes and Head Coach Bon Albor with their power players, namely: Arleigh Alalay, Renan Bambalan, Revv Carl Tiapes, Melito Minuluan, and Mikko Lentija.

For this Accountancy major who graduated from the UP Visayas in 1996, one thing is indispensable—players need to practice the play in order to win. Except for 2010 Scuaa held in Aklan, the charismatic coach has been passionately serving the Capiz State University (CapSU) badminton team since 2004, particularly that of the Roxas City Campus. And toward the end of 2011, Albor got the chance to bring a team of vibrant players representing four campuses of the CapSU System to the regional finals, clinching the spot to represent Western Visayas in the national games.

Regional Challenge

Early on in 2011, Albor’s CapSU team consisted of Renan Bambalan, 21, BS Electrical Engineering and Arleigh Alalay, 21, BS Education Physical Science. Both players are from Roxas City Campus and played singles. For the doubles event, he pushed for Revv Carl Tiapes, 21, BS Hospitality Management of Pontevedra Campus; Kevin Roice Borres, 21, BS Hotel and Restaurant Management of Sigma Campus; and Rocky Martinez, 20, AB Political Science of Poblacion Mambusao Campus.

The regional sports competition held at the University of Antique proved to be a challenge to the team. During the Elimination Games, CapSU defeated Aklan State University and University of Antique, in both singles and doubles events. CapSU lost the third game to WVSU in the two singles events.

In the crossover semis, CapSU defeated CHMSC in the doubles and the last singles, inching its way to the finals where it defeated the Western Visayas College of Science and Technology (WVCST), still in the last two.

TEAM CAPIZ STATE UNIVERSITY. Head Coach Bon Albor with his players (from left to right) Revv Carl Tiapes (Pontevedra Campus), Renan Bambalan (Roxas City  Campus) Arleigh Alalay (Roxas City  Campus)

Players’ Strategies 

Albor said the CapSU Roxas City-based athletes were exposed to professional tournaments during summer. The regional players who won in the Inter-CapSU Meet in October 2011, also trained intensively some two weeks before the Antique games. Albor also made it the athletes train with players from others schools especially Hercor College; also playing Roxas City-based badminton professionals; and the tournament winners of the 50-member Capiz Badminton Club. He also sought Ryan Cheng, a CBC member, who was CapSU’s 2008 PASUC National Games Zamboanga gold medalist.

In sharing pointers for the winning team, Albor said he employed Advanced Scouting, in which the players and coach studied opponents’ plays, observed their mannerisms and court behavior and accordingly adjusted their plays to them. Albor also conducted one-to-one conference and mentoring prior to their games.

Such strategy helped the team, as proven by Renan Bambalan, who says that advanced scouting of other players proved to be “of great help to us to assess the game strategies and attitude of our opponents.” Bambalan said, “Sir Bon is such a master in scouting and providing his players with his notes and game strategies to overwhelm our opponents.”

Going National

To prepare for the national games, Albor practiced the players for two weeks. The delegation consisted of players from Capiz, Iloilo and Negros. While the athletes were not made to observe any particular diet, they were made to complete routine badminton calisthenics and cardio exercises.

Also, for two days, privately employed Ryan Cheng also helped the athletes in their matches. In his Facebook account, Cheng said, “The team was well prepared for the National SCUAA as manifested in their training programs that include lung-busting calisthenics and cardio exercises, rigorous matches, and advanced scouting. “I am so privileged to train with the team for two days and share my experiences playing in the National SCUAA Olympics in 2008. I know the team will rise to the occasion and win in the Nationals.”

Since 2004, Albor has been assigned to lead and guide the CapSU badminton men team. This year, he went on to train his players to lead out their competitors in the PASUC national games held the Iloilo Sports Complex in La Paz, Iloilo City from February 5–10, 2012.

Albor’s national winning team consisted of three 21-year-olds from three CapSU campuses, namely: Renan Bambalan, a BS Electrical Engineering major and Arleigh Alalay, BS Education Physical Science major, both of the Roxas City Campus; and Revv Carl Tiapes, a hospitality management major from Pontevedra campus. All three played the doubles event. For the singles event, Albor relied on the power smash and strategies of two 20-year-olds. Mikko Lentija of the West Visayas State University (WVSU) in Iloilo City performed power plays, as well as Melito Minuluan, Jr. a BS Computer Science student from Carlos Hilado Memorial State College (CHMSC) in Talisay City, Negros Occidental.

On the Right Foot

During the elimination games, the team had a great start when won their first game over Region 3, the previous year’s defending champ, with consecutive wins in singles event by Lentija and Minuluan. Lentija and Minuluan would wow the crowd in the second game, winning their respective events in Game 2, and defeating the 2011 bronze-medal holder team of Region 4.

Though Game 3’s CARAGA proved to be a tougher contender, WVSU’s strong smasher Mikko Lentija completed his third win 21-9, 21-7; and CapSU’s power pair Arleigh Alalay and Revv Carl Tiapes decided the game 21-13, 21-9. During this tough time of the competition, Albor rather sought to prop his players with a strong sense of fulfillment, congratulating them in their wins and backing them up to avoid unforced errors. Win or lose, Albor initiated with his players post-game evaluations, in which they were able to study their strategy, discussing difficulties and problems that arise and counting the merits of their plays. The win over the CARAGA contingent would eventually land the team to the critical quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinals, the consistency of the two singles players made more impression. Lentija and Minuluan smashed Region 12 when they won in their singles events, clocking just in time to get into the semis. The passionate players would repeat their winning performance in the game against the National Capital Region team, eventually nailing their way into the finals.

Bringing out the best in boys. (From left to right) CapSU Roxas’s Arleigh Alalay performs his shuttle drills; Renan Bambalan (yellow) and Revv Carl Tiapes (white) deliver their performance in a double match; and WVSU’s Mikko Lentija completes a forehand smash in a routine match.

Playing the finals, Mikko Lentija sought to nail the first game 21-12, 21-9, establishing the momentum of the game. In the doubles event Bambalan and Tiapes were filled in succumbing to the opponent, 21-9, 21-13. in the final game which is the deciding play, Minuluan sustained too many unforced errors, 18-21, 21-14, 16-21, and getting fixed at the receving end. The player was not able to sustain the fast game preferred to keep the momentum. Region IV defeated Region 6.

Bond with Players

Albor confides that their team won because he has done his best. For one, he has been inclined all along to “share my experience as player and coach,” stressing to the players the importance of a winning attitude, mindset. Albor also urged his players to apply learning despite the short period practice. He made it a habit to “host my athletes to dinners to discuss their plays and games” because he believes that particularly cordial rapport with his team members is crucial, religiously telling them as one would do a real buddy, “Off-court, we’re friends; in court, I’m your coach.”

PLAY THE GAME. (Clockwise from top) Players Mikko Lentija (black) and Arleigh Alalay (yellow & black) compete in the national match; Revv Carl Tiapes (white), Renan Bambalan (yellow), Arleigh Alalay (yellow & Black) and Mikko Lentija (black) in a doubles match; and Asst. Coach Nicolas Baes (no shirt) during calisthenics Melito Minuluan (from left to right), Renan Bambalan, Revv Carl Tiapes, Arleigh Alalay.

The players recognize the mentor in their passionate coach. Power performer Lentija says, “Coach Bon is strict on court. He always give us his post-training or post-game assessment to make adjustments with our plays and strategies.

Meanwhile, Minuluan credits much of his success to Albor’s encouragement: “Coach made me realize the essence of hard work and focus during training. My game greatly improved under his guidance; I was able to improve my defense and court awareness.” For Minuluan, the critical part of the play is to control the game on both ends of the court. In this manner, “we will be able to dictate the kind of game we want to play during matches.”

Indeed, Albor says that for the team to work, he did not like athletes who are inclined to “showboating,” a term he uses to refer to some tendency to show off, regardless of the play strategy he practiced with the rest of the group. He also made them avoid the tendency to be complacent by constantly reminding them to reserve energy for a continued and all-out win.